Thailand is known for its thriving and lively LGBT+ community, but did you know that their first Pride Parade took place on Halloween in 1999?
First known as “The Bangkok Gay Festival,” the event was the first of its kind in Thailand. The event, first dubbed a party, was organized by Pakorn Pimton, “who said that after seeing Pride parades on his overseas travels, he wanted Thailand to have one, too” (AP News). The event started as a party, being that there were very few ways to spread news about the event. The news article reports that Pimton mostly relied on posters in gay bars and word of mouth, being that sponsors rejected the event.
Despite the obstacles and only obtaining a permit days before the event, the Bangkok Gay Festival was a success. Drag performers danced on floats, disco music blasted through the streets, and supporters cheered as the community came together. Several sources note that this first Thai LBGT+ event was unique from others due to the lack of political angle: “Pakorn Pimton called it a festival rather than a pride event because of the complete lack of a political angle” (Cambodia Daily).
Still, the event drew thousands of attendees, including many people from overseas: Hong Kong, Singapore, etc., who could not safely celebrate in their communities. The event also mostly consisted of gay men, but the parade did have some lesbian attendees, who noted that Thai lesbians would have their own parade the following weekend.
Richard Ammon writes, “The ultimate measure of success was not just the cheering and balloons and go-go dancers, but also the long-term impact it had with the media, the authorities and the public” (GlobalGayz).
And the long-term impact was made; the Festival continued to be held for several years. Years later, Ann Waaddao Chumaporn organized "Naruemit Pride 2022" which was held as the country's first official pride parade (BangkokPost). Since then, Waaddao has been an organizer of Bangkok Pride and activist of LGBT+ rights in Thailand, including the push towards marriage equality this past year. We highly recocmmend looking at Waadaao's photo-essays on Bangkok Pride 2022. Read through the above links to learn more about how Pride festivities started in Thailand, and how they’ve evolved since!
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