Fridae

Earlier this month American International Assurance (Thailand), which controls the largest market share of 50 percent in the Thai insurance industry, made headlines when a gay man was reportedly refused coverage before he had even made an application.

Natee Teerarojjanpongs, president of the Sexual Diversity Group and the Gay Political Group of Thailand, said that the company - a subsidiary of global insurance giant AIG - had refused to let him apply for a term insurance policy solely because he is gay.

The 51-year-old long-time gay rights advocate, who had once run for a seat on the Senate, told Fridae that he was having dinner one October evening with his friend Pachara Pipatwong, a senior AIA sales agent, when the two discussed the purchase of a 15-year protection policy from AIA.

Suspecting that Natee's openly gay status might hinder his eligibility to do so, he made a phone call to his headquarters over dinner and was told that his company "had a policy" to not take up gay and transgender customers.

"I was totally shocked and embarrassed. But I kept having dinner with my friend. I was trying to compose myself. When I got back, I just came to realise how this happened to me. I could not believe I was facing discrimination myself," Natee said.

Shortly after, Natee contacted his network of activists and media friends to make a case. On one of the country's most watched TV talk shows, he appeared alongside AIA's spokesman, Sutti Rajitrangson, senior vice president for administration, to debate the case. Newspapers prominently ran the case on their front pages.

"AIA has several well-known gays as its customers. We never had a policy not to allow gays to buy our insurance," Sutti said.

According to Sutti, after the incident AIA asked a sales agent to contact Natee to send in his application for consideration.

Natee confirmed that he was contacted by AIA. But since the case had already been publicised, he decided against sending in his application.

"They told me they would consider my application as a 'special case'. I don't want to be treated like that," he said.

Instead, he wants the company to make it clear in writing and action that it does not discriminate against gays.

Speaking on behalf of the Office of Insurance Commission (OIC) secretary-general Chantra Purnariksha, Prasong Kittithamwongse, director of the OIC's examination and supervision office, said the office would try to seek a fair result, while acknowledging that insurance companies also have a right to calculate risks.

AIA's Sutti told the media that applications were decided individually since people had different "lifestyles and high risks."

"The firm gives an opportunity to all groups of people but considers each application individually, depending on risk, but not focusing on sex," he said.

Sutti added more than 5.8 million company policyholders were considered based on individual risk. Some people who are classified as high risk would face "higher higher premiums, limits in protection, restrictions on riders or even denials of their applications."

He however did not define what kind of lifestyles of gay people in the mind of AIA that were considered "high risk."

A recent Bangkok Post editorial observed: "The executives [of AIA] have walked a fine line between claiming that the company does not discriminate against homosexuals while saying that a person's 'lifestyle' could affect whether they get coverage� If the company claims all homosexuals have 'lifestyles' that make them riskier clients, then executives must explain exactly what they are talking about."

"If it claims, for instance, that homosexuals are more promiscuous than straight people and thus more susceptible to terminal illnesses like Aids - which is certainly the implication when executives start linking homosexuality to 'lifestyle' issues - then they must base this on some legitimate fact-based research."

Quoting a 2005 report by the Disease Control Department, the Nov 7 editorial farther highlighted that married women (via their husbands) are twice as likely as MSM (men who had sex with men) to become infected with HIV in Thailand.

The media coverage continued when AIA told the press that Natee once had a policy with AIA from May 1987 and he surrendered in October 1999 as Natee had refused to have medical check-up. He was paid the surrender value accordingly.

When asked, Natee said that he did not agree to the medical for personal reasons he prefers not to reveal. He added that he was not openly gay and neither was it an issue when he purchased the policy at the time.

"Twenty years ago, not many knew I was gay. But when I'm out and open, I am denied insurance? What is this all about? This clearly sends a signal that if you want to have an insurance policy, you need to hide and live a lie," Natee said.

"If I were HIV positive, there would have been more flexibility for me to go against discrimination than this," said Natee, who is a veteran activist for AIDs prevention. He says he is HIV negative.

Among the gay community, many gay men have unofficially been informed for years that AIA is not "gay-friendly," according to older gay men this writer had spoken to.

In 2001, Somsak Chalachon, the openly gay owner of a well-known hair salon chain, alleged that AIA denied him coverage even after he passed a medical exam simply because he was gay. Despite being publicised in the media, the case was not pursued as he turned to another insurance company.

The Bangkok Postnoted that AIA responded by saying it could not "disclose 'personal client information' (even to the client, apparently) and said it denied coverage for 'high-risk lifestyles.'"

As Thailand is setting up a number of mechanisms for the promotion and protection of human rights, Natee says he is ready to take the case to the Administration Court.

Natee says he has the support of many prominent senators but not from the gay community as many considers him to be loud, outspoken and aggressive, favouring compromise and the non-confrontational approach.

"I know there are many gay people who disagree with what I'm doing. But when people encounter discrimination, they have choices. Keep quiet, live their lives. Or stand up for their rights. I have made a lot of phone calls to gay people I know for support, they just don't take this case seriously. It's not my personal fight anymore, but it affects all of us," said Natee.

Natee wants AIA to send letters to its agents nationwide to confirm that it does not discriminate against gays and publicly apologise for accusing him of providing false information.

The Bangkok Post could not have said it better: "Each time a company like AIA, Novotel or any other takes a clear stand against discrimination of any kind, society as a whole will benefit."