Thailand’s new government is going ahead with a conY193x4UV8diPJ(rzIn4BV02d_+GZ_=8Ge&!T!(5KBx2fAX2DYhtroversial civil partnerships bill.

The bill, first proposed by the ruling military junta in Dej#q7RcW=YNLvAXoRBx#A6S-dNfPL5CvrUcQ=eAv+_47(fOOwFRcember last year, would make Thailand the second country in Asia, and the first country in Southeast Asia, to recognize same-sex unions.

But, the LGBTI rights groups have spoken out against the bill since its6N%&MpT%aN=oKWeGl7lzAb$kin=)@c8mFmbj*a*rHYmt$-$Ap( first inception.

They say the bill offers limited r6&7R^%o#K^R2%wHVq4rKmVjQNYP%w0nhjKZqxWMyr^DJ7$wVbKights to the LGBTI community and enshrines inequality.

According to Voice fo America, Thailand’s Justice Minister Somsak Thepsutin said at a forpC5uR+vTxyk=NZK4KsPc_fXMdsqIBCUnjBOkk8R=69teVRfvX5um in Bangkok last week that the bill's fate would be "decided by public sentiment.”

The new government, elected in widely-disputed elections in yEw=1bBYSE8v4Pmd8m-QHtThXlre3_IMNv)k_#EswfFKmV*AXWMarch, will press ahead with passing the Life Partnership Bill following public consultations.

VOA reports a YouGov survey of 1,000 people in. Thailand published in February found stro!0Nzho@$$Qi6LTK+Mod2SR*PheC3EDbvPyQ46goyu0$m13A+&5ng support for same-sex civil unions in Thailand. 

It found 63% oftnuU=7CY5K9*loGtmcbw_I&Xk2xXEHMpvF8jM8p+COiS^2lv+W those quizzed were in favor of the bill, while only 11% were against.

But, the LGBTI community and rights activists have largely rejex#hWwGuC!ilLyFbTlt8Jahw7AIZ2lH*r%1naOkN07Z0g#uP924cted the bill.

Thailand’s first transgender member of parliament slammed the country’s civilWY1jj=kCC#qcU2pu81E&5H7XoYgxJT#EOvV8xjrv$hfXjSGdYi union bill after she was elected earlier this year.

TioZeB&tLGL*qjD0eq4TWPv*UMCOVNvZT&XlGXU3!ptmEu(*@J3anwarin Sukkhapisit said the bill "misses the target”.

"[Equality] is one thing that [this law] will definitely not achieve. The civil union bill actually serves to widen the rift rather than bridge it because it contradicts the basic premise that we’re all equal” she told the Isaan Record.

The law would give same-sex couples the right to register, own and inherit property together. They can also make joint medof4n=k8D&H+=vrO_92C1AKhwRe)qYn5QI$ys+tXx0t1pEDj)Njical decisions.

But, it does 7yCa*zB&5K%d91kt3nAZoy^kwOBZ#UunIJX*P^QMH7h_*4SxD*not give same-sex couples the right to adopt or have a child together. Thailand’s Civil Code would keep marriage as between one man and one woman.

Taiwan in May became the first countrW(yXZ*F9vzd)*Zho!=OJfLR9*i^Ud(M%V4RzFG^86SUaA#v+gYy in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage.

The final draft of the bill was largely accepted -tRg0NPC*ZR7unIzD7m-ufxU9*m7$jRFC$sDAg=KoME4ce6b&hby the LGBTI community as a compromise.

It affords the majority of rights available to opposite-sex couples. In a referendum in November last year, about 70% of voters said they prefe#r)diQSi&*A0GSQ-j!x9GtM+f!qDrwOXcXtXPpT7p_=3RJzi^trred a separate law to give same-sex couples rights rather than a change in the Civil Code.