TOP TALENT AND EQUAL TREATMENT
Long considered a welcoming destination for the gay community, taking the steps to enact this new legislation will enhance Thailand’s reputation and give global businesses that need to prioritise diversity and inclusion the certainty and confidence to invest in Thailand, Mr Sears said.
Making the law change now will open a pipeline of new talent and economic opportunity, as well as making existing workplaces more productive, he added.
“As companies think about where they want to expand and where they can bring top talent, this does matter.
“Companies have focused on diversity inclusion for 25 years, not because of the moral case, but because they know that it’s delivered them innovation and talent, and that hasn’t gone away,” he said.
“LGBT people are the canary in a coal mine for a broader culture or a society. So what you do to treat an invisible, often smaller minority that is persecuted globally, sends a message to how you treat all people.”
He cited studies by the US-based Williams Institute that showed an increase in a variety of economic factors once same-sex marriage was legalised and workplaces better reflected the diversity of society.
“Every single economic indicator that you could imagine was positive. All of those things will be true for Thailand now that they’re doing this, especially from a talent attraction perspective, from an innovation perspective,” he said.
When the LGBTIQ+ members of a workplace are excluded from full participation, discriminated against or denied promotion opportunities, naturally the productivity of those companies was less than optimal, he explained.
Before this, the law had not kept up with prevailing community attitudes. A poll in June carried out by North Bangkok University found that 82.5 per cent of people supported the government’s campaign to enact marriage equality.
However, there are still gaps in protection for LGBTIQ+ workers in Thailand’s business environment.
Despite public support for more inclusive laws and policies, the country has previously faced challenges enacting legal protections. A United Nations report in 2019 entitled “Tolerance but not Inclusion” documented the “persistent experiences of stigma and discrimination, violence and exclusion” faced by the community.
It found most LGBT respondents perceived stigma and reported experiencing at least one form of discrimination, which may limit employment opportunities. Less than half of respondents had heard of Thailand’s Gender Equality Act, which was passed in 2015 to protect individuals from gender-based discrimination.
Ten per cent of LGBT people and 32 percent of transgender women reported discrimination in their current or most recent job, the report stated.
The marriage equality bill will not solve those issues, but could help maintain momentum already present in the corporate sector to make workplaces more diverse and fair, said Mr Jhitsayarat Siripai, an assistant professor in gender and the media at Rajamangala University of Technology.
The state has been slower to move in this space, Mr Jhitsayarat said, and the private sector has already proven to be proactive in promoting products such as same-sex couple health insurance.
“We have seen a lot of the private sector in Thailand start to recognise and respect LGBT people in the workplace and campaign for equality in the workplace,” he said.
“Things that I would like to see after this are labour regulations to recognise LGBT people in terms of health and wellbeing in the office because they still face social intolerance, violence, discrimination and a lack of opportunities to be promoted.”
Both experts said the Thai government and corporations needed to squarely balance acting for the good of society and pragmatism about business opportunities that may now present.
Throughout Bangkok Pride – a month-long celebration of LGBTIQ+ culture and community that is marked around the world in June – a broad assortment of companies were keen to position their brand closely with the social cause. Japan Airlines, EVMe and Agoda were among the official sponsors of events.
“It’s a trend and they want to capture the young generation who have the potential to make profits for their company. So that’s why it’s a win-win situation, society tick, and also the company tick,” Mr Jhitsayarat said.
Companies should rightly “celebrate this win” and take advantage of the benefits to their business but at the same time examine their own policies.
“Rainbow washing” – showing superficial support for the LGBTQ+ community, without taking any real concrete action – is a real risk though and companies should be scrutinised on what they do to protect and advocate for their employees for the other 11 months of the year, Mr Sears said.
“How are they treating their LGBT employees? What are they doing to support the community? What are their policies internally? Do they have non-discrimination? Are they actively advocating for LGBT civil rights? If that’s the case, then it’s not rainbow washing,” he said.
Mr Sears added that Gen Z – the demographic cohort born between the late nineties and 2010, succeeding millennials – are not only becoming more prominent as employees within companies but are generally showing they care deeply about diversity, inclusion, equality and the climate.
Governments and companies that respond to those demands will benefit greatly, he said.
A 2024 US study by the Public Religion Research Institute found that nearly 30 per cent of Gen Z adults identify as LBTIQ+, far higher than any other demographic – the second highest was millennials at 16 per cent.
In Thailand, Gen Z was estimated to make up one-fifth of the total population in 2019, according to the National Statistics Office.
