In an investigative report published last week, the Bangkok Post reported that while Thailand has long been known as a desirable destination for gay and transgender travellers, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) had not had LGBT-specific advertising campaigns until recently with the launch of the "Go Thai Be Free" campaign.
The report outlined how local LGBT activists began to campaign for the passage of a civil partnership law with the Civil Partnership Act having now been reviewed five times, with public hearings have been held in all four regions of Thailand.
For the bill to pass, 20 MPs must sign in support of a public bill before it can be presented to parliament for deliberation and that has already been achieved. However the proposal is yet to be added to the House agenda due to a shortage of public support. The bill has only garnered about 4,000 of the required 10,000 signatures from members of the public to proceed.
The report continues:
In the eyes of the outsider, Thailand is a virtual paradise of tolerance. But for gay and transgender people inside the country, the picture is less idyllic.
The Foundation for Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Rights and Justice last year interviewed 868 people who identify as gay, lesbian or transgender in Chiang Mai, Nakhon Sawan, Bangkok, Pattaya, Surat Thani, Phuket and Nakhon Ratchasima.
It found that 15% of respondents were not accepted among their own family members, while 8% were only conditionally accepted as part of the family. For nearly 13% of respondents, family members refused to let them live with a gay partner.
More than 14% had been verbally assaulted by family members, 2.5% were kicked out of the family home and 1.3% were forced to undergo psychological treatment. About 2.5% were forced to enter the monkhood, while 2.4% were physically attacked by family members and 3.3% were sexually assaulted by friends.
Naiyana Supapung, coordinator of the Teeranat Kanjanaauksorn Foundation, which works for gender and sexual justice, tells Spectrum that gay and transgender people in Thailand face silent abuse throughout their everyday lives.
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Reader's Comments
Wow! I do not recall any of this kind happening in my country. Perhaps the organisation can conduct it in Sg to compare.
Of course nothing is perfect. But I think when put in perspective, complaining about Thailand is a bit silly.
I hope they do. Something about having it as a law makes
it legal with all the trimmings. #2/8 is correct , #4 is correct
as is #12"me" I grew up in one of those conservative Gulf States
in the U.S.A. maybe the most conservative, Mississippi. I knew
that a good education would get me out(thank you USM). I
eventually found Thailand and have been going for the last
six years of my career with AAL. Gay Thais will always be
struggling for equality but I agree with "skirby". To be a gay
in Thailand is better than other countries on this Earth.
Sometimes I think that gay men/women were born to be
in a constant struggle with normal humans. Face it men
as long a hate is being taught gays are going to be put
down by other humans one way or the other.
Thank you Thailand and good wishes for your current advertising campaign to attract more gay tourists. How refreshing for a government agency to actually promote this!
I can't imagine my country, the UK, actually going this far, or indeed many other so-called 'advanced' Western democracies, can you?
I guess Thailand is not so upfront, which means it takes time to get to know the culture. The Thai smile is practically a law no matter how a Thai might really feel. Once I got to know them better, I was much more at ease and much more particular in my associations
How many those honest from 100 people? 100%? 50%?, 1%?
from 100 contestants, how many were winner? 100? 1?
For usa_scorpion: Number 2 was probably mine as I had to delete a duplicate of #3.
For usa_scorpion: Number 2 was probably mine as I had to delete a duplicate of #3.
Let's face it, they are only 'tolerant' for the pink dollars. As very clearly shown in the article they didn't even bother being friendly with people like us. Sadly, most Asian countries are like that. There are exceptions, of course... Taiwan, Japan, etc.
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