“I hope this award serves as an inspiration for the younger generation working in this field to stay motivated, not to give up, and not to lose hope. I would like to thank the award committee for recognizing the value and effort that led to this award, which might even be “the last award of my life.”
Kamolset Kanggarruar, or more commonly known as “Ieng” sadly passed away on 18th March 2025 at age of 68. For the past 26 years, he has never stopped standing by and with the community, particularly with the community that was once voiceless, had no place to stand, and was once invisible in the eyes of Thai society. He has been but also the pillar, the guiding light and the heart of the human rights movement for RSAT and for Thailand. He was the latest recipient of the 2024 Shivananda Khan Award for Extraordinary Achievement. This was his interview after receiving the Award.
Abit about Kamolset Kanggarruar
He was born on January 10th ,1957, and graduated in social psychology. He said the reason why he chose to study social psychology was because during his childhood he was dissatisfied with being called names from the people around him at the time because he was different. And that he should do something, so that everyone in the society can understand each other’s differences.
He used to work as a social worker at Chulalongkorn Hospital, Thai Red Cross Society, before retiring.
He was instrumental in the establishment of the Rainbow Sky Association of Thailand in 2021, through distribution of condoms and HIV prevention materials for gay men in Lumpini Park in downtown Bangkok which is a hotspot for gay men, as there was an increasing number of HIV infection amongst gay men.
“Therefore, we gathered together HIV patients of various genders to organize a support group and conduct activities to provide knowledge about HIV for them to take back home, and education in the community to protect themselves.”
What’s next for LGBTQI equality in Thailand?
I played a small part within the movement, but I can proudly say that I see that many young LGBT people are determined to make equal marriage happen in our country. It is the continued work calling for equality that has got us this far. We all should have the right to be who we are, to love, and to marry the person we love and that loves us.
I think that now equality between the genders has begun to become more equal. But what we should do next is create understanding and true acceptance, as in reality we are still suppressed by culture, religion, beliefs, and traditional attitudes. This is an important matter that we change the old attitude of those who saw that the LGBT group is still abnormal. We need to accelerate our understanding of the diversity of gender in our society to create a new social atmosphere to truly have equality that is protected by law.
The government should ensure that everyone has the opportunity to access basic human rights. or a welfare state equally for everyone no matter where you are in the country. You must know what rights you have, and you must be able to conveniently access them, as rights are not limited to only one group of people.
What makes you happy in the movement?
I feel proud to witness the social change over the past few years in Thailand. It’s what I’ve always wanted it to see since I started working many decades ago. I feel proud that even though we are just small people, we can do it – we can help each other by building networks. Expanded from one person to two people to many people working together until it was successful. It is something that tells us that we can come together to do what we all want – being who we are. It is a powerful force. Everything – if we intend for it to succeed, then we will be able to achieve it. When I see that the next generation of LGBT people have gained rights, opportunities, acceptance, identities, and their own space, I can smile happily. At least what we fought for in the past wasn’t in vain. It became powerful.
What would you like to see change in the NGO sector?
The weak point that we clearly see is in the coordination and working together between networks, alliances, and sharing of resources. I would like to see this being strengthened within the work of Thailand’s LGBT as each person, each group has different abilities, and when working together, it is important to use the expertise of each person, each group. We all have different potentials, therefore, working alone may not be successful. We should endeavor to seek cooperation with others. To help fill the gaps in things that you are not always good at.
Do you have any message that you would like to share with the other activists, advocates and allies working on LGBTQI equality in the Asia Pacific region?
Within our country [Thailand], there are many efforts to promote human rights among LGBT people, and it seems to be moving in a good direction, but there are still many LGBT people in the country who still suffer. I would like to say to the young people who are leaders in driving human rights policy in the LGBT group that we must not forget to help, develop, and create knowledge for everyone, for every group so that we can ALL have a good quality of life.”
See our 2024 HERO Awards Recipients here:
Stories from previous recipients of the Shivananda Khan Award for Extraordinary Achievement
2023
Remy Choo
(Singapore)
2022
Senator Risa Hontiveros
(The Philippines)
2021
Dennis Altman
(Australia)
2020
Professor Emeritus
Vitit Muntarbhorn
(Thailand)
2019
Tuisina Ymania Brown
(Samoa)
2018
Taiga Ishikawa
(Japan)
2017
Ashok Row Kavi
(India)
