[8] Thailand was the first Asian UN member state to pass a comprehensive same-sex marriage law, as well as the first in Southeast Asia and the 38th in the world.

[9] In 2013, the Bangkok Post said that "while Thailand is viewed as a tourist haven for same-sex couples, the reality for locals is that the law, and often public sentiment, is not so liberal.

"[10] A 2014 report by the United States Agency for International Development and the United Nations Development Programme said that LGBT people "still face discrimination affecting their social rights and job opportunities",[11] and "face difficulty gaining acceptance for non-traditional sexuality, even though the tourism authority has been promoting Thailand as a gay-friendly country".

[11] Changes in attitudes and public policy towards LGBT issues began to occur in Thailand during the 1990s and, in particular, the early part of the 21st century.

[18] Through the Penal Code Amendment Act of 1997 (Thai: พระราชบัญญัติแก้ไขเพิ่มเติมประมวลกฎหมายอาญา-(ฉบับที่-14)-พ.ศ.-2540), the age of consent was set at fifteen years regardless of gender or sexual orientation.

[21] Thailand has officially legalized same-sex marriage, becoming the first Southeast Asian nation to do so after King Maha Vajiralongkorn approved the bill on 24 September 2024.

[27][28] "Marriage is when a man and a woman are willing to live together, to build a husband and wife relationship to reproduce their offspring, under the morals, traditions, religion and the laws of each society.

These include the Marriage Equality Bill proposed by the opposition Move Forward Party, which would amend the current marriage law to include couples of any gender, and the government-proposed Civil Partnership Bill, which would instead introduce civil partnerships as a separate category, granting some but not all rights given to married couples.

On 14 February 2023, Bangkok's Dusit district became the first jurisdiction in Thailand to issue partnership certificates, which are legally non-binding, to same-sex couples.

[34] In November 2023 Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin of the Pheu Thai Party announced that his Cabinet had approved a draft same-sex marriage law.

[40] On 18 June 2024, Thailand passed the same-sex marriage bill with the approval of 130 of the 152 members of the Senate in attendance, with 4 voting against it and 18 abstaining.

Thailand was the first Asian UN member state to approve a comprehensive same-sex marriage law, as well as the first in Southeast Asia and the 37th in the world.

[41] The amendment to the Civil and Commercial Code replaces the terms "men and women" and "husband and wife" with the words "individuals" and "spouses".

[42] On 23 January 2025, adoption of children by married same-sex couples became legal in Thailand as a result of the Marriage Equality Act.

Of the 26 surveyed countries from around the world, Thailand ranked as number 1 in public support for adoption rights of same-sex couples.

[21] The 2007 Constitution did contain a broad prohibition of "unfair discrimination" based on "personal status" and promises to respect various civil liberties in accordance with "state security" and "public morality".

[49] This act bans discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation, and was the first law in Thailand to contain language mentioning LGBT people.

[10][60] Transgender people face substantial barriers to employment, including full-time work, executive positions or promotions, according to 2015 research for the International Labour Organization.

[61] An editorial in the Bangkok Post in 2013 noted that "we don't find transgenders as high-ranking officials, doctors, lawyers, scientists, or teachers in state-run schools and colleges.

[53] Post-operation male-to-female transgender government employees are not granted the right to wear female uniforms at work,[62] and are still expected to perform military service.

[71] In May 2009[72] and October 2021,[71] the Thai Red Cross Society reaffirmed its ban on MSM becoming blood donors, despite campaigns to change this policy.

[71] In 2009, a scheduled pride parade in Chiang Mai was violently protested by some members of the local community leading to its eventual cancellation.

[77] A 2019 UNDP survey showed that 53% of LGBT respondents had faced verbal harassment, 16% have been sexually assaulted, and 42% have pretended to be straight in order to be accepted in various settings.

[54] On 26 December 1996, in a report in the Bangkok Post, the Rajabat Institute Council, the collective governing body of all of Thailand's colleges, declared that it would ban homosexuals from enrolling in any of its teacher training schools, the idea of Deputy Education Minister Suraporn Danaitangtrakul.

On 25 January 1997, Danaitangtrakul proposed that the Institute set new criteria to ban people with "improper personalities", but not specific groups such as homosexuals.

Sexual health education was also found to be inadequate, which can contribute to unsafe sex prevalence and the spread of HIV among the LGBT community.

A lack of educational qualifications leads many LGBT Thais to "sex work or other forms of high-risk behaviour and risky employment in order to make ends meet.

[80] Ahead of the 2019 general election, several political parties expressed support for same-sex marriage and LGBT rights.

The Future Forward Party called for the legalisation of same-sex marriage and amendments to the official school curriculum "so that it no longer propagates stereotypes and prejudice against the LGBTQ community".

The Thai Raksa Chart Party, banned in March 2019 due to the involvement of Princess Ubol Ratana, stated that it supported civil partnerships for same-sex couples.