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Twelve years ago, the Thai couple headed to the marriage registrar\u2019s office to take part in a mass wedding ceremony on Valentine\u2019s Day in Bangkok. Rungtiwa Thangkanopast wore a long white dress, and her partner, Phanlavee Chongtangsattam, a black tuxedo.<\/p>\n
Officials welcomed them. But when they reached the registrar\u2019s desk and presented their identity cards, which show each to be female, they were turned away. Marriage between two women, they were told, was not permitted.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, the couple finally had the chance to wed under Thailand\u2019s new law allowing same-sex marriages. They joined hundreds of others for a mass wedding ceremony in Bangkok as the law took effect.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cI am delighted and excited because we have been waiting for this day for a very long time,\u201d Ms. Rungtiwa said. \u201cFor 20 years, we have loved each other and have had to hide from society\u2019s disapproval. But now we can stand proudly.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The mass wedding ceremony began in the morning at Paragon Hall, an event and convention center in one of Bangkok\u2019s biggest shopping malls, Siam Paragon. It was hosted by a rights group, Naruemit Pride, whose name roughly translates to creating pride.<\/p>\n
Dozens of officials and scores of journalists were on hand as the first weddings began in a large charcoal-gray hall, with flower-bedecked pink arches set up as backdrops for the newlyweds\u2019 photos. The couples were wed one at a time by officials who examined their documents and formally registered them as legally married.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday we feel secure and safe and happy,\u201d said Ploynaplus Chirasukon, 33, who wed her partner, Kwanporn Kongpetch, 32, in the event\u2019s first marriage. \u201cWe are happy that we have played a part in the equal marriage law reaching this point.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other weddings were planned around the country, and organizers say they expect more than 1,000 same-sex couples to marry on the first day.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
With the new law, Thailand becomes the first country in Southeast Asia \u2014 and only the third place in Asia after Taiwan and Nepal \u2014 to allow people of the same gender to marry each other.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Thailand is widely seen by foreigners as one of the more open places in the world for L.G.B.T.Q. people, but it took more than a decade of campaigning to legalize same-sex marriage. Many citizens of this traditional, predominantly Buddhist country remain conservative, especially older people. Even so, it is becoming increasingly tolerant on social issues, particularly in contrast to its neighbors.<\/p>\n
In 2022, Thailand became the first nation in the region to legalize the sale and recreational use of marijuana. The government gave away 1 million marijuana plants<\/a> to households as the law took effect. Since then, hundreds of weed shops have sprung up in urban areas. And last year, Parliament passed the marriage legislation, which became law with the king\u2019s assent.<\/p>\n To celebrate the law, Thailand\u2019s prime minister, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, presided over a colorful photo shoot last week with dozens of couples planning to marry.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n