Thailand’s long-awaited marriage law took effect on Jan. 23, and hundreds of same-sex couples received marriage certificates, the BBCreported.
Activists said they were hoping to cross the 1,448-mark for registrations by the end of the day, as 1,448 is the clause in the Thai Civil Code covering the definition of marriage.
Thailand is the first country in Southeast Asia to have marriage equality.
According to Reuters, any LGBTQ+ couple in which the partners are each at least 18 years of age—from Thailand or any other country—can marry there. Thai nationals are afforded the same legal rights as people in a heterosexual marriage, including marriage registration, divorce, joint management of assets, tax benefits, social security and healthcare, adoption and guardianship, and inheritance.
“The rainbow flag is flying high over Thailand,” Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra posted on Facebook from Davos, Switzerland, where she is attending the World Economic Forum.
Police officer Pisit “Kew” Sirihirunchai and long-term partner Chanatip “Jane” Sirihirunchai—now spouses—were the sixth couple to register their union at one of Bangkok’s largest shopping malls. (Official documents had listed them as brothers; they had previously been to a Buddhist monk to give them a shared surname.) “We have been ready for such a long time,” Pisit said. “We have just been waiting for the law to catch up and support us.”