400 out of 415 members present adopted the bill during Wednesday’s vote. Only ten voted against, and five abstained.
The proposal, which has support from all of the country’s major parties, has been on the negotiating table for more than a decade. But it became a priority issue for Srettha Thavisin when he took office as prime minister last year.
Approval from the Senate and the King now remains before the law can enter into force.
Becomes the third country in Asia
Should it pass, Thailand will be the first in Southeast Asia to legalize same-sex marriage – and the third in Asia after Nepal and Taiwan.
A marriage would get a new definition, as the law calls it a union between “two individuals” instead of between a man and a woman. It gives married couples full rights under the country’s civil and commercial laws, including parts relating to adoption and inheritance.
Activists want to see additional effort
On Wednesday, LGBTQ advocates debated in parliament’s committee that “father” and “mother” should be changed to the gender-neutral “parent” in references to the family unit – to avoid difficulties in matters such as adoption.
– The right to marriage has been granted but not the full right to establish a family, says Nada Chaiyajit, LGBT advocate and law lecturer at Mae Fah Luang University.