FOCUS THAILAND LGBTQIA+ RIGHTS

'Equality for all': LGBTQIA+ community in Thailand calls for more rights

epa11424790 Pakodchakon Wongsupha (L) feeds fruits to her partner Kan Kerdmeemun (R) at their house in Bangkok, Thailand, 09 March 2024 (issued 20 June 2024). Kan, 72, and Pakodchakon, 67, have been living together for the past 30 years. But when they first got together, they kept their relationship secret. '(People thought that) a woman loving a woman was abnormal,' she tells EPA Images. For decades, Pakodchakon says she wasn't concerned about LGBTQIA+ rights - until Kan became ill and had to go to hospital. There, doctors asked for a relative to sign a form to consent to medical treatment, which Pakodchakon was not able to do because she isn't officially recognised as Kan's wife. Thailand has just passed, on 18 June, a historic marriage equality bill that will grant same-sex couples advantages that are currently only enjoyed by heterosexual married couples, such as tax benefits, as well the right to inherit and manage their spouse's assets; or to give spousal consent for medical treatment and to adopt children. But activists and rights groups say that more action is needed if Thailand is to justify its reputation as a relatively safe and welcoming place for LGBTQIA+ people. EPA/RUNGROJ YONGRIT ATTENTION: For the full FOCUS ESSAY text please go to: https://epaimages.com/misc.pp?code=section-focus

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