Thailand on Thursday became the first country in Southeast Asia to hold legal same-sex weddings, with LGBT groups aiming to mark the occasion with more than 1,000 marriage registrations in a single day.

Hundreds of people began registering their marriages at a mall in Bangkok, as Thailand became one of the few places in Asia to legalize same-sex unions.

On Thursday, they gained the legal right to register their marriages, making it the first country in Southeast Asia and the third place in Asia to recognize same-sex unions, after Taiwan and Nepal. In central Bangkok,