LGBTQ+ Fertility in Thailand: A Structural Relations Between Economic Elites, Government, and Civilians
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63738/aimmah.v1i4.18Keywords:
LGBTQ , Economic Power, Socio-Political Power, ThailandAbstract
This study analyzes the socio-political and economic frameworks that influence the visibility, advancement, and incorporation of LGBTQ+ communities in Thailand. The qualitative examination of secondary data indicates that Thailand's capitalist change over the last forty years, especially in Bangkok, has facilitated the selective visibility of LGBTQ+ individuals which predominantly rich, urban homosexual men, within consumer-centric paradigms. Institutional support, exemplified by policies such as the Gender Equality Act and the proposed Life Partnership Law, has afforded legal legitimacy; yet, it remains inconsistent and inadequate in practice. Thai government's involvement seems to be more influenced by elite interests and foreign factors than by grassroots lobbying within the country. Civilian actors such as activists, students, and NGOs, have emerged as crucial agents in advocating for reform and promoting inclusive discourse. Nonetheless, class gaps persist in influencing whose opinions are acknowledged and safeguarded. The report asserts that substantial LGBTQ+ inclusion in Thailand must address the intertwined economic and political obstacles, rather than solely commemorate symbolic advancements. This study underscores the pressing necessity for early social awareness in addressing LGBTQ+ that threaten fundamental national values. In the absence of such supervision, these dynamics may become structurally entrenched and affect political authority at the highest echelons.
References
Au, A. (2022). Network discrimination against LGBTQ minorities in Taiwan after same-sex marriage legalization: a Goffmanian micro-sociological approach. Critical Asian Studies, 54(4), 594–618. https://doi.org/10.1080/14672715.2022.2100803
B. Miles, M., Huberman, A. M., & Saldaña, J. (2014). Qualitative Data Analysis: A Methods Sourcebook (Third Edit). Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE Publications Inc.
B. Radics, G. (2025). Anti-gender backlash politics as anti-Western politics: examining the UN’s “Being LGBT in Asia” project in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand. International Feminist Journal of Politics. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616742.2025.2512011
Duangwises, N., & Jackson, P. A. (2021). A Homoerotic History of Bangkok’s Gay Middle Class: Thai Gay Bars and Magazines in the 1980s and 1990s. Journal of the Siam Society, 109(2), 59–77. Retrieved from https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85175175806&partnerID=40&md5=62d3c5b3ed168542c24e11a74d76c02f
Fongkaew, K., Khruataeng, A., Unsathit, S., Khamphiirathasana, M., Jongwisan, N., Arlunaek, O., & Byrne, J. (2019). “Gay Guys are Shit-Lovers” and “Lesbians are Obsessed With Fingers”: The (Mis)Representation of LGBTIQ People in Thai News Media. Journal of Homosexuality, 66(2), 260–273. https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2017.1398026
Gramsci, A. (1971). Selecetions from The Prison Notebooks. London & New York: Lawrence & Wishart and International Publisher.
Jackson, P. A. (2011a). Queer Bangkok: 21st century markets, media, and rights. In Queer Bangkok: 21st Century Markets, Media, and Rights. ANU’s College of Asia and the Pacific, Australia: Hong Kong University Press. Retrieved from https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84896218560&partnerID=40&md5=3218d03f5986398f9fa7b6f6f4aebb69
Jackson, P. A. (2011b). Queer Bangkok after the millennium: Beyond twentieth-century paradigms. In Queer Bangkok: 21st Century Markets, Media, and Rights (pp. 1–14). ANU’s College of Asia and the Pacific, Australia: Hong Kong University Press, HKU. Retrieved from https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84896256849&partnerID=40&md5=16eecd356ac5f7cd351c8f8d2875c79d
Kanchoochat, V., Aiyara, T., & Ngamarunchot, B. (2021). Sick Tiger: Social Conflict, State–Business Relations and Exclusive Growth in Thailand. Journal of Contemporary Asia, 51(5), 737–758. https://doi.org/10.1080/00472336.2020.1869997
Krumbein, F. (2022). Who will be Asia’s Next Unicorn? Comparing Marriage Equality in Taiwan with Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea. Asian Studies Review, 46(1), 55–73. https://doi.org/10.1080/10357823.2021.1920886
Lo, I. P. Y. (2024). LGBTQ+ Families, Welfare, and Same-sex Marriage Legalisation in Taiwan: A Social Policy Perspective. Social Policy and Society, 23(2), 446–461. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1474746424000277
My, D. T. H., Thach, N. N., Hue, P. T. M., & Van Diep, N. (2024). The War on the Shadow Economy in Southeast Asia: A New Contribution from Inclusion of LGBT People. In Studies in Systems, Decision and Control (Vol. 483, pp. 403–416). Faculty of Economics and Public Management, Ho Chi Minh City Open University, Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam: Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-35763-3_28
Newman, P. A., Reid, L., Tepjan, S., & Akkakanjanasupar, P. (2021). LGBT+ inclusion and human rights in Thailand: a scoping review of the literature. BMC Public Health, 21(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-11798-2
Noknoi, C., & Wutthirong, P. (2010). Leveraging diversity through raising awareness: Sexual orientation discrimination in the Thailand workforce: Implications for human resource management. International Journal of Human Resources Development and Management, 10(3), 254–271. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJHRDM.2010.033586
Ocha, W. (2015). Queering Thailand: On the emergence of new gender and sexual identities. In The Global Trajectories of Queerness: Re-thinking Same-Sex Politics in the Global South (pp. 145–160). International College, Rangsit University, Thailand: Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004217942_011
Ocha, W., & Earth, B. (2013). Identity diversification among transgender sex workers in Thailand’s sex tourism industry. Sexualities, 16(1–2), 195–216. https://doi.org/10.1177/1363460712471117
Ojanen, T. T., Burford, J., Juntrasook, A., Kongsup, A., Assatarakul, T., & Chaiyajit, N. (2019). Intersections of LGBTI Exclusion and Discrimination in Thailand: the Role of Socio-Economic Status. Sexuality Research and Social Policy, 16(4), 529–542. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-018-0361-x
Ojanen, T. T., & Sittichai, R. (2023). SOGIE, Bullying, and Cyberbullying in Thai Schools. In SOGI Minority and School Life in Asian Contexts: Beyond Bullying and Conflict Toward Inter-Minority Empathy (pp. 119–134). Faculty of Learning Sciences and Education, Thammasat University, Thailand: Taylor and Francis. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003430414-7
Phetphum, C., Keeratisiroj, O., & Thawatchaijareonying, K. (2025). Prevalence and associations of tobacco use, alcohol consumption, illegal substance use, social victimization, and physical violence among undergraduate LGBTQ students in Thailand. Cogent Psychology, 12(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311908.2025.2485744
Reid, L., Newman, P. A., Lau, H., Tepjan, S., & Akkakanjanasupar, P. (2022). A Scoping Review of LGBT + Inclusion in Thailand: Policy Proposals and Recommendations. Sexuality Research and Social Policy, 19(4), 1731–1746. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-022-00751-6
Saejang, J. (2023). The Thai Translation of Un violador en tu camino: A Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis. GEMA Online Journal of Language Studies, 23(1), 159–179. https://doi.org/10.17576/gema-2023-2301-09
Sanders, D. (2019). Thailand and “Diverse Sexualities.” Australian Journal of Asian Law, 20(1), 165–185. Retrieved from https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85149730708&partnerID=40&md5=ca8deb69bfdbd0d95acb0d0228caf945
Sanders, D. (2020). Sex and Gender Diversity in Southeast Asia. Journal of Southeast Asian Human Rights, 4(2), 357–405. https://doi.org/10.19184/jseahr.v4i2.17281
Sanders, D. (2021). Flying the Rainbow Flag at the United Nations. Journal of Southeast Asian Human Rights, 5(2), 100–118. https://doi.org/10.19184/jseahr.v5i2.23821
Sinsomboonthong, T. (2021). On Homosexual Love and Right to Same-Sex Marriage: Questioning the Paradox of #LoveWins Discourse. In International Handbook of Love: Transcultural and Transdisciplinary Perspectives (pp. 405–421). Faculty of Sociology and Anthropology, Thammasat University, Bangkok, Thailand: Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-45996-3_22
Sookpornsawan, R., Kiatrungrit, K., Seree, P., Korpaisarn, S., & Arunakul, J. (2024). Association between exposure to gender and sexual diversity in media (GSDM) and Thai adolescents’ attitude towards LGBT individuals: a cross-sectional study in Bangkok schools. BMJ Open, 14(12). https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2024-089390
Suriyasarn, B. (2016). Discrimination and marginalization of LGBT workers in Thailand. In Sexual Orientation and Transgender Issues in Organizations: Global Perspectives on LGBT Workforce Diversity (pp. 197–215). Bangkok, Thailand: Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-29623-4_12
Thanaawathphuvaphan, T., & Riampanich, P. (2025). Signal Incongruences: Hiring “Kathoey” as Financial Personal Advisor Effect on Customers’ Purchase Intention and Satisfaction in Thailand. Sexuality, Gender and Policy, 8(1). https://doi.org/10.1002/sgp2.70001
Thongkrajai, C. (2014). Note de recherche: Phu-ying-kham-phet vs. kathoey: L’évolution du (trans)genre et l’émergence de l’identité de transfemale en Thaïlande contemporaine. Anthropologica, 56(1), 69–82. Retrieved from https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84903287133&partnerID=40&md5=7c2bc2d3a4b979de14209fced9fc5735
Trakulkasemsuk, W., Thein, T., Pangestu, F. H., Vuong, K. T. M., Hidayati, S. P., & Aung, Y. M. M. (2025). “I Was Sad But Now I Am Gay”: Examining an English-Medium Thai Newspaper Narratives on LGBT Issues. Sexuality and Culture, 29(2), 589–609. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-024-10288-y
Ünaldi, S. (2011). Back in the spotlight: The cinematic regime of representation of kathoeys and gay men in Thailand. In Queer Bangkok: 21st Century Markets, Media, and Rights (pp. 59–80). Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany: Hong Kong University Press, HKU. Retrieved from https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84896234342&partnerID=40&md5=46fe43837cc5dc9d941d5b13f0c361d7
Visessuvanapoom, P., Thummanond, C., Klaikeow, C., & Phattanaqumphol, K. (2022). Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) Adolescents: Understanding and Support. Suranaree Journal of Social Science, 16(2), 119–131. https://doi.org/10.55766/HJJY8282
Walsh, C. S., Lasky, B. A., Chaiyajit, N., & Morrish, W. (2010). Producing & integrating animations into online outreach to promote social justice, equity and access to HIV/AIDS prevention. Proc. of the IADIS Int. Conf. e-Commerce 2010, Proc. of the IADIS Int. Conf. e-Democracy, Equity and Social Justice 2010, Part of the MCCSIS 2010, 30–36. Open University, United Kingdom. Retrieved from https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-79955162197&partnerID=40&md5=5e4531c281052637a07aa5982a308056
Wong, E. M. Y. (2025). Same-sex marriage legislation and implementation: Marital intention and barriers for marriage actualization among same-sex couples in Asia. Journal of Marriage and Family. https://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.13095
