August 25, 200719 yr THAILAND, TRANG’S UNDERWATER WEDDING OPENS TO GAYS The world famous underwater wedding festival in Trang will welcome all couples, regardless of their sexual orientation, for the first time next Valentine‘s Day. Thailand's world-famed underwater wedding festival will no longer be a straight-lace affair as of next Valentine's Day, when all couples regardless of their sexual orientation will be invited to join the annual event, media reports said Friday, 24 Aug. 2007 "We would like to extend an opportunity for lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders to openly express their love," said Wichat Rattamanee, chairman of the Trang Tourism Association. “This would attract more tourists to the southern province,” he said. Trang, 670 kilometres south of Bangkok, has been staging offshore underwater weddings every Valentines' Day since 1997 as a means of promoting tourism to the province, which rims the Andaman Sea. For next year, it is scheduled from February 13 -15. But the Thai ceremony will stop short of granting the mixed couples official marriage certificates, still not allowed under Thai law. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) couples will be given a certificate announcing that they are officially "lovers" instead. "For LGBTs, this is the Pride Wedding," said Natcha Voratanavanit, organiser of the Pride Wedding. Natcha feels the Pride Wedding will make the underwater event in Trang even more novel and special than before. Trang has long been recognised as the first place in the world to have couples sign marriage registration certificates underwater. The event has entered the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest of its kind. Several photos at http://www.pattayadailynews.com/shownews.p...NEWS=0000003698
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