Over 99% of Thais want same-sex marriage to be legal: Poll

More than 99% of Thais want the Marriage Equality Bill to be enacted as law to provide legal benefits to same-sex couples, a recent poll shows.

A total of 99.3% respondents polled by content platform The Attraction from May 20 to June 9 approved the bill. The number of respondents in the poll was not disclosed.

Respondents’ top three reasons for supporting the bill were: Granting marital rights for same-sex couples (77.6%), granting the right to manage spouse’s assets (67.7%), and granting the right to sign a consent form for spouse’s medical treatment (60.8%).

Almost half of respondents (47.4%) said the bill’s progress was due to the Move Forward Party, while 26.3% said it was a public effort, and 23.3% said it was a joint effort by all parties. Only 1.9% said it was an achievement of the ruling Pheu Thai Party.

Move Forward’s former leader Pita Limjaroenrat was voted the most influential supporter of same-sex marriage rights with 58%. Musician Pataradanai Setsuwan was second with 55% and television host Vuthithorn "Woody" Milintachinda was third with 28.5%.

Over three-quarters (77.5%) of respondents believed the bill’s enactment would boost Thailand’s global reputation for gender diversity and openness. Meanwhile 60.7% said the law would attract same-sex couples to Thailand for holidays or residency, while 51.7% believed the law would help boost related industries including tourism, entertainment, wedding organisation and life insurance.

Respondents named shopping mall operator Central Group (56.5%) as the business with strongest support for gender equality, followed by TikTok (40.7%), and retail-property company Siam Piwat (33.3%).

The Marriage Equality bill passed its final reading in the House of Representatives on March 27, with 400 MPs voting for and only 10 against. The bill is expected to receive the Senate’s endorsement and royal approval before becoming law later this year.