Gay Buddhists and other groups in Thailand.

[Armando]

I would like to point out that there is a Buddhist group in Taiwan that is outspoken regarding LGBT rights.

Similarly in Korea the Won Buddhist groups is known to be very supportive of LGBT rights

You really cannot compare Thai society with Taiwan's society. Over the last 15- 20 years, Taiwan has leapt forward in terms of LGBT acceptance. You only have to look at the Annual Pride Parade at the end of October. Pre-pandemic, Taipei's Parade in the afternoon had grown over the years to a total of 160,000 marchers and many bystanders plus a week-end of night parties. Participants were local Taiwanese as well as visitors who had flown in from several countries in Asia. Every Taiwan city also has its own Pride Parades. From the outset these have been organised by individuals rather than gay businesses, although international businesses like Citi now sponsor it. So their organisation has grown from within and not been imposed by gay busnesses.

Compare that with Thailand. Bangkok used to have an annual Pride march. This was organised by the gay business owners, not individuals. It died in the early 2000s and it attracted only those working in the various bars and spas as well as a few owho attended them. Totally unlike Taipei, hardly any Thais from the professional class attended. There was a small Parade a few months ago which attracted 1,000 marchers, but quite a few of these were political protestors merely latching on to the march. The Phuket Gay Pride Parade died a few years ago. Chiang Mai's second Parade in 2009 was so badly heckled by the crowds that it had to be abandoned. In 2019 and 2020 Parades were resurrected but with just a small number of participants. Many individuals in Thai society may be accepting of gay men and women, but few accept open displays of LGBT events.

Sorry I have no experience of Korea but like Thailand it is also a very homophobic society.