Phuket Pride

Phuket Pride

Welcome to Phuket Pride

For the past seven years, the Phuket Gay Pride Celebration has evolved into becoming a broader organization; one that is working to meet the many needs of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) communities of Phuket. Phuket Pride's mission statement: create a stronger GLBT community in Phuket, displays a strong desire to work towards the betterment of our community.

Phuket Pride was created to begin the process of assessing our diverse community's needs and to begin developing and coordinating events and activities for the GBLT communities. Though the Phuket Pride Festival and Parade would be our signature event, it would be only one of several activities and events, which Phuket Pride will be developing and promoting.

Phuket Pride is an ever-evolving member and community based organization. The direction of the Phuket Pride's Executive Committee (Board of Directors) is largely determined by their memberships who come from all walks of life: business, community members, professionals, non-profit organizations, political leaders, etc. By becoming a member of Phuket Pride, individuals have a direct voice in shaping events which educates and gives back to the GLBT Communities of Phuket.

The first Phuket Gay Festival was first held in 1999 shortly after Bangkok 's first festival. A coalition of gay business and website owners organized the first parade. Poonsak Sanchan, known affectionately as Daeng, was one of the original founders, and has continued at the helm of the Festival. As Phuket's unofficial gay ambassador, Daeng has managed to gain consistent support from the local police, the Mayor and other political leaders for Phuket's annual event, with the 8th annual celebration/parade slated for March 2007.

The 2006 Phuket Pride Celebration included four days of merriment and community building. For the first three nights, Paradise Soi was awash with the colors of the rainbow; Red, Gold, and White parties were held, and on the final night: a party of all the colors of the rainbow.

A final estimate of the numbers of people in attendance was well over 5,000 tourist and local community members. As for the parade there were nearly 1,000 marchers and community organizations, and it was enjoyed by over 30,000 members of the public.

As part of the Phuket community, Phuket Pride feels a responsibility to give money back to the community and assist those businesses and foundations that work to better the life of everyone in Phuket. For the past several years, Phuket Pride has given over 1,000,000 baht to the Patong Hospital – “Men Who Have Sex With Men (MSM) Project”, that has developed an Aids awareness campaign aimed at increasing condom use among male sex workers in Patong.

Phuket Pride has also committed funds to Wat Phacha Temple . Through Wat Phacha Temple 's support and love, those in our community who are ill and dealing with HIV/AIDS now have a place to seek support and live out the remainder of their lives in a nurturing and loving environment.

Phuket Pride's ultimate goal is to build a stronger sense of community for those who are Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT). Achieving this goal requires a two fold approach: increasing awareness of the struggles in the GLBT community to the broader community and nurturing and developing systems which strengthen community support of businesses and foundations that assist with our daily lives.