[FILE] LGBTQ activists walk under a giant rainbow flag as they take part in the Pride Parade in Bangkok on November 7, 2020. (Photo by Lillian SUWANRUMPHA / AFP)
The lower House passed the first readings of four draft marriage equality bills today, with 369 MPs voting in favour and 10 against.
After the vote, a 39-member panel was formed to scrutinise the four drafts, with the government-sponsored bill to be used as the basis for the scrutiny. This process will take 15 days, after which the bill will return to the House for second and final readings.
The four bills were separately proposed by the cabinet, Move Forward MP Tunyawaj Kamolwongwat and supporters, Sanphet Bunyamanee of the Democrat party and supporters and Ann Chumaporn, with 11,611 public signatories.
Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin hailed the first reading passage of the four bills as the first step towards marriage equality and congratulated the LGBTQ community.