GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUE: LEGAL : CONTEXT OF THAILAND ON THE ISSUE OF LIFE PARTNERS

Abstract

Currently, there is a global demand for changes in laws and policies in many countries to recognize and protect the rights of same-sex couples to form families and cohabit with their partners. Many countries have the idea that defining marriage as only between a man and a woman is unfair and unequal to all people in society, leading to the enactment of laws to recognize the family formation of persons with diverse sexualities in more than 33 countries to date. Thailand has ratified the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which are international instruments and treaties that define the right to marry and have a family life (Right to Family). Thailand also signed the Yogyakarta Principles on the Application of International Human Rights Law in relation to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity 2006, which stipulates in Article 24 that "Everyone has the right to form a family regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity". But at present, there is no law that recognizes the right to form a family and cohabit with a partner of same-sex couples. Thailand's lack of this law makes it difficult to deal with family relationships of same-sex couples, causing many problems, such as when a partner may be abandoned because they cannot support themselves, when partners cannot manage property, they have earned together, or when partners do not have the right to be heirs by law, inherit property, sue together, or decide on medical treatment on behalf of a partner. The human rights situation in Thailand remains problematic with violations and restrictions of political and civil rights. In 2020, the National Human Rights Commission received the highest number of complaints on the issue of rights in the judicial process, which included cases of inappropriate treatment of gender and status at checkpoints. Moreover, there were problems of discrimination against groups of people with diverse sexual orientations, such as employment, dress code, sexual harassment or abuse in the workplace. Additionally, there were problems of rights in family matters, which involved limitations in accessing various rights for groups of people with diverse sexual orientations, such as property management, consent for medical treatment, inheritance and adoption. Some of these problems were related to the rights of same-sex couples to marry in Thailand.