Since the Marriage Equality Act has been officially legalized on the 23rd of January of 2025, Thailand has celebrated as the third country in Asia and so far, the first country in Southeast Asia that has the legalization of same-sex marriage. However, throughout the evolution of the movement for marriage equality in Thailand, it is no bed of roses. This research paper aims to study the interaction of some factors which lead to the dynamics and directions of this movement. The factors consist of resource mobilization, political opportunities, and framing. This qualitative research employed in-depth interviews and documents and media analysis, utilizing three major social movement theories; Resource Mobilization Theory; Political Opportunity Structure Theory; and Framing Theory to comprehensively understand the movement's dynamics and mechanisms. The study shows continuous and complex mutual reinforcement among those three factors. Effective resource mobilization creates new political opportunities, appropriate political opportunities facilitate influential framing development, also recognized framing enhances resource mobilization capacity. Some critical turning points demonstrate the synergistic effects leading to the movement's accomplishment. Besides, the research has discovered some key findings which are expanding the resource concepts to encompass digital and cultural resources, developing cross-institutional networks and cross-Thai characteristic context, and multi-dimensional framing approaches engaging multiple belief systems. In conclusion, this study fills knowledge gaps in analyzing social movements through systematic theoretical frameworks and expectedly contributes to developing social movement theory for the Asian context, providing valuable recommendations for academics, social movements, and policymakers.

Authors:
Jirapong Chaichawwong, Maejo University, Thailand
Sirisopa Suntitissadeekorn, Maejo University, Thailand

About the Presenter(s)
Dr.Sirisopa Suntitissadeekorn is a full time lecturer in Political Science at Maejo University, Chiang Mai, Thailand. Her research interests are in Public Law, Social Movements, and Gender Studies.

See this presentation on the full schedule – Monday Schedule

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