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April 3, 2025

Thailand Includes Same-Sex Couples in Anticorruption Criteria on Spouses

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On February 26, 2025, Thailand’s National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) issued a notification titled “Criteria for Individuals Living Together as Husband and Wife that Are Considered as De Facto Spouses (No. 2) B.E. 2568 (2025).” This new notification, published in the Government Gazette on March 7, 2025, took effect retroactively from January 22, 2025.

Prior to this notification, the term “spouses” specifically included “individuals living together as husband and wife” without registering marriage, referring to similar language at the time in Thailand’s Civil and Commercial Code. However, it was unclear whether this term included same-sex and other nontraditional couples. After the Marriage Equality Act revised this language in the Civil and Commercial Code to only refer to “spouses” (with a gender-neutral Thai word), the NACC took the opportunity to issue a new notification that simply replaces any mention of “husband and wife” with “spouses,” thereby removing the ambiguity.

As a result, this new notification covers same-sex de facto spouses of politicians and high-ranking officials. These spouses’ assets must now be declared together with the officials’ assets. Additionally, same-sex de facto spouses of state officials are prohibited from engaging in business with the Thai government that may present conflicts of interest.

Importantly, the notification also impacts the interpretation of the Office of the Prime Minister’s (OPM) Regulation on the Giving or Receiving of Gifts by Public Officials B.E. 2565 (2022). In this regard, same-sex de facto spouses of government officials are now also prohibited from accepting gifts or other benefits related to official duties. This is because the OPM regulation references the NACC definitions when defining “family members” to include “de facto husband and wife.”

Under the OPM regulation, public officials and their supervisors are strictly prohibited from permitting or condoning family members’ acceptance of gifts or other benefits related to official duties from individuals who have business dealings with, receive benefits from, or have interests under consideration by the public official. With the NACC’s new notification in effect, a public official permitting their same-sex de facto spouse to accept such a gift would violate the OPM regulation.

For further information regarding these updated regulations, or assistance in complying with Thailand’s rules related to gift acceptance and anticorruption standards, please contact Tilleke & Gibbins at [email protected].

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