The passing of the Same-Sex Marriage Bill by the parliament earlier this week on March 27 was a historic day for not just LGBTQI people but Thailand, and hopefully the region, as the kingdom became the first nation in Southeast Asia to recognize equal marriage rights for gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgenders, queers, intersex, and those questioning their gender or sexual orientation.
The rights were not achieved overnight but were a culmination of at least three to four decades of gradual opening up of the minds of straight people that LGBTQI are also equally human and normal, just like the rest of us. In the end, 400 MPs endorsed the bill and only 10, mostly Muslim MPs, rejected it.
Only two abstained, while three refused to vote. The message for change and making Thailand a more inclusive society was non equivocal and both the government’s ruling and coalition parties and the opposition parties agreed on most issues and decided that the time for change has come – if not long overdue.
The passing of the bill was a reflection of a growing social consensus that developed over the past few decades as LGBTQI people were gradually accepted and played increasingly important and prominent roles in various sectors in society, and not just in the entertainment industry.
As over 100 laws will have to be altered and LGBTQI people celebrate, Thais, both LGBTQI and non LGBTQI, should strive to make Thailand more inclusive for other people and groups in the society that are still left behind and kept unequal. These include ethnic minorities, physically disabled people, homeless people, migrant workers, and more.
The protests by migrant workers for just compensation and social security in Rayong province on Friday night and yesterday after a construction crane collapsed at Xin Ke Yuan Steel factory construction site killing seven Burmese migrant workers and injuring a few is one example.
Initially, it was reported that the company will pay only 500,000 baht in compensation to the family of each worker killed, but workers feel that was too cheap for one life and demanded 5 million baht per person for the families of their dead colleagues instead.
In the end it was agreed at 1.6 million baht each (plus social security payment) after 30 police officers were dispatched, local MPs visited the site, and officials from Myanmar Labour Union (WAG) arrived, to diffuse the growing dissent among the 500 Burmese workers and family members of those who died.
Workers disclosed to the local press that the employer had previously refused to pay compensation when one of the workers was killed in the past from electrocution and that they no longer trust the employer.
This is probably not an isolated incident and migrant workers continue to be made invisible and treated like third-class people in Thailand despite their significant contribution to the Thai economy. It is only humane and right for us Thais to strive to ensure they are treated better and enjoy more rights.
The same can be said about the physically handicapped people with much less employment opportunities, many impediments due to the inadequate infrastructure for the physically handicapped, that prevent them from not just leading a normal life but equally participating in the society.
Another group is the homeless people in Bangkok. Both the central and local governments appear to lack the will or interest in ensuring they are afforded with minimum facilities and rights and are instead a left to sleep rough, particularly on Ratchadamnoen Avenue, every night, and in other places.
Over the decades in the struggle for equality for LGBTQI people, this writer repeatedly stated publicly that you do not need to be a member of the LGBTQI community to support their equal rights and inclusion into Thai society – all you need is to recognize that they are human just like us.
I say the same now regarding other marginalized groups who are still left behind or discriminated against – let us continue to work towards a more inclusive and humane Thai society.
