The China Mail - Gay Chinese couple fulfil wedding dream in 'freer' Thailand

USD -
AED 3.672902
AFN 69.589337
ALL 86.196303
AMD 383.859677
ANG 1.789679
AOA 917.499003
ARS 1184.254303
AUD 1.546934
AWG 1.80125
AZN 1.694587
BAM 1.716751
BBD 2.020004
BDT 122.248895
BGN 1.719075
BHD 0.376942
BIF 2978.161263
BMD 1
BND 1.289088
BOB 6.91329
BRL 5.634397
BSD 1.000478
BTN 85.714411
BWP 13.42977
BYN 3.274157
BYR 19600
BZD 2.009647
CAD 1.372465
CDF 2865.000411
CHF 0.823703
CLF 0.024493
CLP 939.889814
CNY 7.204302
CNH 7.190605
COP 4126.73
CRC 509.280187
CUC 1
CUP 26.5
CVE 96.783962
CZK 21.88202
DJF 177.719882
DKK 6.557399
DOP 59.074211
DZD 131.742973
EGP 49.6724
ERN 15
ETB 136.603394
EUR 0.87913
FJD 2.253301
FKP 0.738134
GBP 0.73949
GEL 2.740121
GGP 0.738134
GHS 10.234759
GIP 0.738134
GMD 71.999878
GNF 8671.189952
GTQ 7.683564
GYD 209.312226
HKD 7.84522
HNL 26.067264
HRK 6.6213
HTG 130.971556
HUF 354.816026
IDR 16338.7
ILS 3.52005
IMP 0.738134
INR 85.710498
IQD 1310.60483
IRR 42125.000185
ISK 127.120222
JEP 0.738134
JMD 159.588148
JOD 0.708976
JPY 143.876503
KES 129.249843
KGS 87.450242
KHR 4012.253568
KMF 434.492751
KPW 899.938458
KRW 1377.349776
KWD 0.30675
KYD 0.833699
KZT 512.413814
LAK 21608.858421
LBP 89641.915111
LKR 299.478195
LRD 199.594474
LSL 17.918047
LTL 2.95274
LVL 0.60489
LYD 5.44659
MAD 9.199853
MDL 17.207661
MGA 4546.831043
MKD 54.05916
MMK 2099.400036
MNT 3577.427298
MOP 8.084845
MRU 39.548122
MUR 45.430453
MVR 15.46004
MWK 1734.817929
MXN 19.261498
MYR 4.245012
MZN 63.910064
NAD 17.919148
NGN 1582.710265
NIO 36.813209
NOK 10.146435
NPR 137.144011
NZD 1.666486
OMR 0.384499
PAB 1.000478
PEN 3.622248
PGK 4.110455
PHP 55.705988
PKR 283.16743
PLN 3.76045
PYG 7993.890691
QAR 3.647886
RON 4.445597
RSD 103.032985
RUB 78.977411
RWF 1415.568
SAR 3.750807
SBD 8.350767
SCR 14.728869
SDG 600.499678
SEK 9.62136
SGD 1.289195
SHP 0.785843
SLE 22.719686
SLL 20969.500214
SOS 571.77717
SRD 37.147504
STD 20697.981008
SVC 8.753697
SYP 13001.814997
SZL 17.910828
THB 32.6365
TJS 9.904631
TMT 3.505
TND 2.978113
TOP 2.342097
TRY 39.131602
TTD 6.788647
TWD 29.999587
TZS 2689.999828
UAH 41.553336
UGX 3643.641183
UYU 41.710188
UZS 12840.453265
VES 94.846525
VND 26055
VUV 120.837102
WST 2.761673
XAF 575.774626
XAG 0.028977
XAU 0.000298
XCD 2.70255
XDR 0.712934
XOF 575.759464
XPF 104.682446
YER 243.85015
ZAR 17.875799
ZMK 9001.202368
ZMW 26.862292
ZWL 321.999592
  • CMSD

    0.0939

    22.16

    +0.42%

  • CMSC

    0.0500

    22.12

    +0.23%

  • NGG

    -0.6000

    71.33

    -0.84%

  • BTI

    0.9500

    46.34

    +2.05%

  • GSK

    -1.1950

    40.46

    -2.95%

  • RIO

    -0.7300

    58.85

    -1.24%

  • RBGPF

    -1.5000

    67.5

    -2.22%

  • SCS

    0.3300

    10.52

    +3.14%

  • RYCEF

    0.1550

    12.035

    +1.29%

  • RELX

    -0.5200

    54.06

    -0.96%

  • BP

    -0.0050

    29.56

    -0.02%

  • JRI

    0.0440

    12.96

    +0.34%

  • BCC

    2.5000

    87.6

    +2.85%

  • BCE

    -0.3400

    21.94

    -1.55%

  • VOD

    -0.1000

    10.3

    -0.97%

  • AZN

    -0.1100

    71.82

    -0.15%

Gay Chinese couple fulfil wedding dream in 'freer' Thailand
Gay Chinese couple fulfil wedding dream in 'freer' Thailand / Photo: © AFP

Gay Chinese couple fulfil wedding dream in 'freer' Thailand

When Wang Zengyi, 41, and Song Jihan, 29, first met at a friend's dinner party in China, it was love at first sight.

Text size:

"I thought he was handsome and pure," says Wang. "Our love has deepened over time."

Nearly three years later, the gay Chinese couple are getting married in Thailand, which became Asia's largest nation to legalise same-sex marriage earlier this year -– including for foreign couples.

They are among the first Chinese LGBTQ pairs to tie the knot in the Southeast Asian country as it celebrates its first Pride since the law's passage.

"Thailand is a freer country," said Wang after they signed their marriage certificate at a Bangkok registry office. "It's also more inclusive to our community."

He believes they are the first gay Chinese couple to host a full wedding ceremony in Thailand, but that "gradually" more will follow in their footsteps.

"I think we are unique so far... but I hope we can have a positive influence."

They enlisted the help of an agent and a consultant to organise the wedding and paperwork to finally make their dream come true.

- Bureaucratic hurdles -

Chinese authorities decriminalised homosexuality in 1997, but same-sex marriage is not legal and social stigma is widespread.

Despite a period of relative relaxation in the 2000s to mid-2010s, rights groups say recent years have seen a crackdown on the community's spaces and freedom of expression.

Real estate agent Owen Zhu has a property business in Thailand that also helps gay Chinese couples come to Thailand to get married.

Zhu, 40, said that the biggest difficulties couples like Wang and Song face are linked to paperwork, as well as prejudice.

It is difficult for Chinese LGBTQ individuals to obtain the certificate of single status required by Thailand proving that they are not married, he told AFP.

China also does not recognise same-sex marriages registered abroad.

But Zhu believes that despite China's bureaucratic hurdles, there will be a rise in the number of Chinese couples looking to wed and even live long-term in Thailand.

"There is large market demand from many Chinese same-sex couples," he says.

"Thailand is a particularly tempting place, allowing freedom to do things not possible in China, like holding hands or kissing in public with a partner. In China, they may not dare do such things."

Zhu says the simple act of signing a marriage document is deeply meaningful for his clients.

"Though this piece of paper might not be recognised in China, in their hearts, they see it as recognition and acceptance from the world," he says.

- Love ballads, vows -

More than 30 countries have legalised marriage for all since the Netherlands became the first to allow same-sex unions in 2001.

Thailand was the third place in Asia after Taiwan and Nepal.

The kingdom ranks high on recent indexes measuring public attitudes towards LGBTQ people, but matching legal structures were absent before it passed the same-sex marriage bill in a historic parliamentary vote last June.

Thousands of couples across the kingdom tied the knot in a mass wedding the day same-sex unions became legal in January this year.

Chris Yan, a legal consultant who helped Wang and Song navigate Thai administration to formalise their partnership, says the process for foreigners to register their marriage in Thailand is fairly smooth as long as they can provide the necessary documents.

"I believe it is more advanced than many other countries, since the cost in Thailand is quite low," he says.

"They can stay in the country for longer and processing the documents is quicker."

Surrounded by dozens of close friends and their ring-bearing small fluffy dog, Wang and Song sing love ballads to each other on a sandy Pattaya beach before tearfully reading their wedding vows.

They will return home to China after their honeymoon, but hope to eventually retire in Thailand.

Life is short, is the message they have for other couples like them.

Wang said: "Be with the one you want to be with."

X.So--ThChM