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.

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.

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

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.

Thursday, January 23 marks a major milestone for LGBTQ+ people in Thailand – as same sex marriage will finally become legal. It’s a historic moment, not just for Thailand, as it becomes the first country south east Asia to recognise marriage equality.

Thailand is now the first nation in Southeast Asia to legalize same-sex marriage, granting LGBTQ couples the same human rights as their heterosexual counterparts. The new law, effective this Thursday,