A gay wedding between a Bangkok man and his younger lover from Udon Thani has made the national news in Thailand.
Bangkok resident Mr. Athipan Pimreung, 28 years old, reportedly fell in love at first sight with Mr. Paiboon Sipo, 19, and married him March 9 in Udon Thani, Thai Rath reported.
Mr. Athipan happily paid a dowry of THB200,000 cash and 2 baht weight gold to the parents of Mr. Paiboon, as they requested. He also plans on financing his younger husband’s university education.
The wedding party was filled with happiness and love and no different from that between a woman and a man, the paper said. The ceremony began with a welcome from the parents of both grooms and featured a Chinese dining party and performances after. Many relatives of both men attended the wedding.
Mr. Athipan told a reporter from Thai Rath that he met Mr. Paiboon a year ago during a business trip to Udon Thani. They hit it off immediately from their first conversation, found out they had many things in common, and later decided to have a relationship. Athipan said he was impressed with Paiboon’s constant cheerfulness and that he found him diligent and easy to talk to about any subject.
Mr. Athipan ultimately decided that he wanted to spend his life with Mr. Paiboon, so he asked Paiboon’s parents about marriage. Paiboon’s parent’s never had any problem with the relationship and were very understanding, simply requesting the aforementioned dowry.
“Love with any gender requires good understanding and honesty. This will make the relationship last long and be filled with happiness. I believe that our changing society will accept this and we can go back to Bangkok and take care of our business. I will also finance Paiboon’s education until he completes a university degree, then we can start a family together,” said Mr. Athipan.
Photos of the groom and groom (one wearing a Bluetooth headset!) at their wedding are on the ThaiRath website with the original story.
Translated from ThaiRath by Christal
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