Gay rangers look to tie knot
The army is considering relaxing its rules requiring women volunteer rangers to remain single and not get pregnant until they retire, after two female rangers in the restive South put in a request to their superiors to get married.
Sgt Naphat Multakorn, 34, formally requested permission from Col Sithisak Jenbanjong, chief of the Ranger Regiment 41 in Yala, to marry her lover, 26 year-old Wanida Thosawa, whom she has been seeing for many years.
Because the army’s restrictions do not apply to lesbian couples, said Col Sithisak, the marriage request has prompted the regiment to consider relaxing the rules for all female rangers. The regiment is mulling whether to allow one heterosexual woman ranger per year to tie the knot, but she will be asked to delay her plans to have a baby.
Currently, t here are about 45 woman rangers in each of the 12 ranger regiments in three southern border provinces — Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat — or about 540 in total. Col Sithisak said these officers hold a wide range of responsibilities from cooking to fighting the unrest in the deep South.
Sgt Naphat said: “We take good care of one another as life partners. Working together and going on a dangerous mission together, we understand each other,” she said.
Ms Wanida said she appreciated the army’s willingness to consider the proposal. “We’d like to thank them for understanding us,” she said.
However, same sex marriage or any form of same sex partnership is not legally recognised under Thai law.
Volunteer ranger Hasawan Ruchanudee said she fully understood why she and other female rangers have been banned from getting married, because it could distract them from their duty or lead to them getting emotionally attached.
“The army doesn’t want us to have something to worry about while doing our duties, be it a child or a husband. Of course, this is a sacrifice we have to make as we’re determined to become [good] rangers,” Ms Hasawan said.