Thai actors Both and Newyear engaged after Thailand legalises equal marriage: ‘I said yes’
Both and Newyear have announced their engagement. (@newyear_kitiwhut/Instagram)
Congratulations are in order! Thai actors Both and Newyear have announced their engagement in an adorable post on social media.
Thailand made history after becoming the first Southeast Asian nation to legalise equal marriage, and one of the country’s most well-known gay couples made their engagement official now that they can marry legally.
Announcing their engagement on 27 June, a TikTok video showed Both Nattapong Chinsoponsap leading his partner Newyear Kitiwhut Sawutdimilin into a hotel room adorned with hundreds of fresh red roses.
Both got down on one knee to propose and asked a tearful Newyear if he would marry him, to which he said, “yes”.
The pair shared a sweet embrace and a kiss before Both attempted to slide the ring onto Newyear’s ring finger, which was slightly too small for him.
“It’s okay,” Both reassured his fiancé. “We can make it bigger.”
The newly engaged couple also shared a series of professional photos from their engagement in London, after they appeared to be spending more time in the UK capital city.
“B: Will you marry me? Ny: I said ‘yes’ from the first day we met,” the caption read.
Fans quickly flocked to the comments to congratulate the loved-up duo, with one fan writing. “Congratulations to both of you. I cried.”
“I am so so happy for you two, congrats to my fav couple,” penned another. “Finally. Congratulations. Together forever,” echoed a third.
According to OUT Magazine, the pair first started dating in February 2012, before signifying their commitment in September 2023 with what looked like promise rings.
The pair performed in the 2021 Thai series Top Secret Together, where they starred opposite each other as a gay couple.
On 18 June, the final reading of the marriage equality bill was approved by their home country’s Senate with the support of 130 of the 152 members in attendance. Only four voted against the bill, while 18 abstained from voting.
At the time, Plaifah Kyoka Shodladd, an 18-year-old activist, said (as reported by The Guardian): “Although Thailand has been known as the gay paradise or the queer paradise, it was never really the actual paradise for queer people. But once we have this bill it will open so many doors.”
