Gay lifestyle vs life insurance row in Thailand

Nov 6, 2007, 4:19 GMT

Bangkok - Gay activists in Thailand have lodged a protest against American International Assurance (AIA) for allegedly refusing to provide life insurance to a prominent homosexual on account of his 'personal lifestyle,' media reports said Tuesday.

Natee Teerarojjanpong, president of the Gay Political Group of Thailand, has claimed he was recently refused a life insurance policy from AIA because the company has a policy to deny policies to gays and transsexuals.

The prominent gay activist has lodged a protest at the Office of Insurance Commission (OIC) against AIA for discrimination and vowed to take his case to the Administrative Court if no action is forthcoming within two weeks.

'We need equal treatment,' said Natee. 'We will file a petition to the Administrative court because such behaviour violates the 2007 Constitution,' he told The Nation newspaper.

Article 30 in the constitution guarantees equal treatment for all regardless of 'nationality, religion, language or sex.'

AIA, Thailand's leading life insurance company, has denied it has an explicit policy against homosexuals but claimed the right to evaluate policy coverage, premiums and set other conditions for clients in high-risk jobs or with high-risk lifestyles.

'Anyone found to have higher risk than the general population could face higher premiums, limits in protection, restrictions on riders or even denials of their applications,' AIA senior vice-president Sutti Rajotrangson told the Bangkok Post in a statement.

Thai life insurance companies have been requiring HIV/AIDS blood tests from policy applicants for the past two decades.

The country has one of the highest HIV/AIDS prevalence rates in Asia, with an estimated 600,000 Thais living with the virus, the majority of whom were infected via heterosexual sex.