Hundreds of same-sex couples are expected to tie the knot across Thailand on Thursday as the country becomes the first in Southeast Asia to recognize marriage equality.

On Thursday, Joe and Mate will tie the knot in central Bangkok, joining roughly 200 couples in a joyful mass-wedding that marks a seismic shift in Thailand. After decades of campaigning and countless setbacks, the country is becoming the first in southeast Asia – and only the second in Asia after Taiwan – to introduce full marriage equality.

It is a big day many in Thailand’s LGBTQ+ community have long been waiting for, as couples celebrate a law giving them the same legal rights as married heterosexuals

American businessman Jacob Holder met his Thai husband Surapong Koonpaew in 2021, got married in the United States two years later and then returned to Thailand, where they live and work. This week, their union will be recognised under Thai law,

Come this Thursday, their wedded status will be recognized by the nation as well, when a law that allows members of the LGBTQ+ community in Thailand to get married and have the same legal rights as heterosexual couples takes effect.

Same-sex couples in Thailand are poised to celebrate a landmark achievement many decades in the making: the legal right to marry. On Thursday a marriage equality bill will become law, allowing members of the LGBTQ+ community in Thailand to get married and have the same legal rights as heterosexual couples.