Thailand may appear LGBT-friendly to outsiders — from the well-known openness of our trans community to our smorgasbord of sexuality labels — on paper, however, the kingdom is not so accepting when it comes to real-life questions of partnerships or family planning.

That may be in for a big change by the end of this year.

The cabinet is planning to hold public hearings on same-sex unions later this month and could pass legislation before the end of 2018 that would legally recognize same-sex unions — though the term “marriage” would still be off limits. Yesterday, the Rights and Liberties Protection Department (RLPD) announced that online polling is already underway and that public consultations on the issue will be held Nov. 12-16 in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Ayutthaya, and Songkhla.

Kerdchoke Kasemwongjit, deputy director-general of the RLPD, said he wanted to hear the opinions of citizens before concluding and presenting the 70-section bill to the cabinet by the end of this month, reported Post Today.

Revisions to the “Life Partnership Bill,” originally drafted in 2013, aim to give the LGBT community more rights in regards to family planning, said Kerdchoke, who guaranteed that the act will grant them “90 percent of the rights” other married hetreosexual couples have. Though Kerdchoke added that the official term for their union will still be “partnership” and not “marriage.”