The coup-led government of Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha is looking to tap into yet another source of valuable votes after announcing plans to enact a law allowing same-sex civil partnerships by the end of this year.
The move, if it does materialise, would mean Thailand becomes one of the very few countries in the region to recognise the rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. The country would be second only to Vietnam, which took this step in 2015, and ahead of Taiwan, where the country's highest court gave legislators a timeframe of two-years from 2017 to study a law before proposing it to the parliament for approval.
Umesh Pandey is Editor, Bangkok Post.
Kerdchoke Kasemwongjit, director-general of the Department of Rights and Liberties Protection under the Justice Ministry which is sponsoring the draft law, said the bill has been drawn up to ensure compliance with the national human rights plan, which took effect in 2014 and that the "French model" would be adopted for the bill which could come into effect as early as the end of this year.
Mr Kerdchoke said the meeting reached the conclusion that the legal framework will likely be modelled on that in France, in which same-sex couples were initially allowed to enter into civil partnerships before the further step of fully legalising gay marriage is taken.
France introduced a similar law, known as the Pacte Civil de Solidarité (or Pacs), in 1999 to specifically give homosexual couples tax and state pension rights as well as next-of-kin status. But since its introduction, about 95% of those to register under Pacs have been straight couples using it as a litmus test before they take the next step of officially marrying.
The reasons given for the use of Pacs first is that it is easier to break out of than a divorce, which is an expensive and time-consuming process.
Pacs has been hailed as a success in France for its ease of allowing couples to be together, both in the LGBT and heterosexual communities.
It allows the partners to write "PACS" rather than "single" to be eligible for the various benefits and tax deductions that come with being a couple. Even though Pacs is not in place in Thailand, most of us know of many couples, again mostly heterosexual, who have married but not registered it officially for various reasons.
Although there is no doubt that a move along the lines of Pacs would be a leap, it might not be so shocking for a society that has already begun affording the LGBT community greater acceptance and has become accustomed to news splashes about elaborate same-sex marriages taking place in the country.
After decades of debate and requests by the LGBT community, the registration of same-sex civil partnerships was finally proposed by the Pheu Thai government in 2013. However, before a bill could move forward Pheu Thai was ousted in the coup led by Gen Prayut.
With this government likely to keep its promise of holding elections in February 2019, the LGBT population could be a valuable source of voters, and this is something that all political parties have been looking into.
Most parties are drafting plans to bring about equality for the LGBT community, realising that this is an untapped gold mine of support.
There is no reason for anyone to think that the LGBT community in this country is oppressed like those of Malaysia or Indonesia, but giving them rights that are somewhat equal to those of heterosexual couples could be the decisive factor in securing their support in the election.
The liberal attitude of Thais can be seen by their willingness to accept LGBT people from all over Asia who flock to Thailand, especially during the Songkran and New Year breaks renowned for parties which are reportedly second to none in this part of the world.
Therefore, the military government appears not to have spared a second thought in its push to tap into this demographic.
The LGBT community could provide a sizeable block vote if a law can be pushed through before a poll, wrongfooting parties who, at this stage, can only offer promises of equality in the future.
The successful passage of this law would give the coup leaders another feather in their cap after having already been able to attract some of the smaller parties into their fold with more likely to follow over the next few months in the run-up to the planned election.