Growing, Understanding, and Speaking Out: ‘Capoc Tanatda’s’ Journey from Hat Yai to Advancing Equality
Capoc Tanatda Kaewsuksri, Core Team, Bangkok Pride
- Capoc grew up in Hat Yai and began speaking out at around age 17 after questioning the suppression of children’s and young people’s rights, later expanding this journey into human rights and LGBTQIAN+ equality advocacy.
- Working with Bangkok Pride and the Pride City Network gave Capoc opportunities to learn and develop a deeper understanding of identity, diversity, and the lived experiences of LGBTQIAN+ communities.
- Capoc believes that acceptance remains uneven across Thailand, particularly outside Bangkok, where LGBTQIAN+ people and transgender people continue to encounter stigma and employment discrimination.
- Capoc sees WorldPride as more than a celebration: it can affirm Thailand’s readiness and advance equal rights, opportunities, and social acceptance for all.
Capoc Tanatda Kaewsuksri works in social events at Bangkok Pride, with responsibilities spanning management, corporate communications, media, and public relations for parades, forums, awards, and other activities advancing human rights and LGBTQIAN+ equality. Over approximately two years in this field, Capoc has learned from community members and the Pride City Network that human rights are not distant political concepts; they are embedded in everyone’s daily life.
Capoc grew up in Hat Yai, where the surrounding society was relatively conservative. The journey into advocacy began at around age 17 after witnessing the suppression of children’s and young people’s rights. That experience transformed Capoc from a “good child” by society’s standards into someone willing to speak publicly about injustice. Although economic hardship during the COVID-19 pandemic required Capoc to step back and work to support the family, the commitment to human rights remained and eventually developed into sustained advocacy.
Although Capoc had known about being gay from a young age, there was little understanding at the time of what that identity meant. Society largely framed gender through a male–female binary and relied on a limited vocabulary for sexual and gender diversity. Moving to Bangkok and working alongside advocates and diverse communities deepened Capoc’s understanding of gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation, as well as the stigma, discrimination, and emotional wounds many people experience.
Thailand is often seen as welcoming and relatively safe for LGBTQIAN+ visitors from around the world, but Capoc stresses that acceptance remains uneven. Violence, misunderstanding, and hostility continue in many areas, particularly outside Bangkok. LGBTQIAN+ people—especially transgender people—may still face discrimination when submitting résumés or attending job interviews, even though everyone should have equal access to employment and the freedom to live without judgment based on gender identity.
For Capoc, hosting WorldPride should mean more than staging a celebration. It can serve as a milestone affirming Thailand’s commitment to becoming a genuinely open society and move public understanding beyond simply acknowledging that LGBTQIAN+ communities exist. It should also strengthen recognition that everyone deserves equal rights, opportunities, and protection. Creating safe spaces is only the beginning; Thailand must continue changing laws, social structures, and attitudes across issues including HIV, gender equality, bodily autonomy, and the continuing influence of patriarchy.
Capoc’s message to society is simple: “Let us be friends.” People do not need complete knowledge or agreement from the beginning. Asking what someone is going through, listening without judgment, and standing beside them can already make a meaningful difference. Capoc hopes families can become the first friends to listen, while schools, healthcare institutions, workplaces, and every part of society become safe spaces where LGBTQIAN+ people no longer have to search alone for a place they can call home.
Capoc Tanatda Kaewsuksri is a social events and communications professional at Bangkok Pride who has transformed experiences of growing up in Southern Thailand and questioning injustice into a commitment to human rights and gender equality. Capoc envisions Thailand’s road to WorldPride as a journey toward a society where people stand together, listen to one another, and choose to be friends.
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