The Justice Ministry is expected to finish in September considering the country's first-ever Civil Partnership Bill to provide same-sex couples with similar rights to married couples. Pitikan Sithidej, chief of the Right and Liberties Protection Department, said the department is working with stakeholders on the bill.

"The bill is now being vetted by the ministry. We expect to finish considering it by the end of September. After that, it will be forwarded to the cabinet for approval before being submitted to the National Legislative Assembly for deliberation,'' said Ms Pitikan. She was speaking yesterday at a seminar on the draft law on civil partnership as part of the mandatory public hearing process required before the bill can move forward.

During the ministry's consideration process, the bill will have to go through a number of public hearings and undergo multiple revisions before it can be passed into law. She said the first draft was made in 2013 with 15 sections and later amended into 63 sections to cover all basic rights of same sex marriage which currently is not allowed under Thai law. Read more via Bangkok Post