THAILAND: ENGLISHMAN LAWRENCE LYNCH SETS UP INTERNET DATING/ MARRIAGE AGENCY FOR ASIAN BRIDES

Record ID: 544459

  • Title: THAILAND: ENGLISHMAN LAWRENCE LYNCH SETS UP INTERNET DATING/ MARRIAGE AGENCY FOR ASIAN BRIDES
  • Date: 29th August 2002
  • Summary: CLOSE UP OF WEDDING PHOTO VARIOUS, LAWRENCE LYNCH AT COMPUTER VARIOUS OF THAI WOMEN ON THE INTERNET SITE WHO HAVE SIGNED UP FOR THE DATING SERVICE
  • Embargoed: 13th September 2002 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BANGKOK, THAILAND
  • Country: Thailand
  • Topics: Business,People,Technology
  • Reuters ID: LVA5LBN9HMIFF0USLB4IOP7NE8EV
  • Story Text: An Englishman who says he was tired of dating western women has set up an internet marriage service that promises to deliver beautiful Asian brides.
    Men from all over the world can choose a partner, fly to Thailand to meet her and be married within weeks if all goes to plan.
    Lawrence Lynch calls himself 'Mr Marriage'. He's the owner of Thai Professional Introduction Services and is proud to say he has matched and married more than 400 couples over the past five years.
    Lynch, who is himself married to a Thai woman, started the agency for western men who are unhappy dating women in their own countries.
    "The majority of guys who use our service have become disillusioned with the western woman and they are looking for perhaps a more traditional wife and the Thai ladies fulfil those criteria basically. And from the Thai ladies point of view it works well. The average Thai lady is considered in the eyes of a Thai man to be over the hill by the age of 28, as you'll see we have a lot of ladies around that age on our books," he told Reuters.
    Male clients pay 1,450 pounds Sterling (2,213 U.S.
    dollars) for the service which allows them to view catalogues and videos of Thai women looking for a husband. If they like what they see they come to Bangkok. Lynch says that within 24 hours of arriving in Thailand -- most men have met at least one woman in the service that they want to date.
    Surang Abhabhirama works for Lynch's agency. It's her job to attend the first dates, to help couples overcome the language barrier and get to know each other. She says there are lots of Thai women desperate to marry foreign men.
    "Not many Thai ladies are lucky because their family life is broken and the ladies were abandoned with children and they have to work very hard to support them. Thai men do not take much respnsibility so that's why I'm here to help them to get a better chance."
    Hundreds of Thai women are registered with the service and are not afraid to strut their stuff in front of a video camera for potential 'husbands'. The agency video also lists each woman's education, likes and dislikes and whether she has children.
    Within two weeks of being in Thailand, Lynch says, almost every client has found a woman he thinks is a potential wife.
    But it took just two hours for 49-year-old Ken Moylan, a dentist from England, to find his wife through the service. He says he knew there was something special about 28-year-old "Wan" on the first date, when she went back to his hotel room and began hanging up his clothes and tidying the room.
    Critics of marriage agencies say they exploit the grinding poverty of women in developing countries, offering dreams of a new life in the West which often turn sour. But Moylan says he has no regrets about coming to Thailand in search of a wife.
    "Don't think you can come to Thailand and meet a slave because you can't. The girls aren't stupid. But if you want to come and meet a wife and you want a good loving relationship because I think the Thai girls are more caring, they're more loving and more determined to make a marriage last. So if you've got those ideas then it's a great idea," he told Reuters.
    Moylan spent a week in Thailand, and after returning to England kept in touch with Wan by phone and mail. Six months later she came to England and the couple married.
    Lynch says clients he has found wives for include a blind man, a man with one leg and a man with post-traumatic stress disorder.
    at/jrc
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: Footage contains computer game or software screenshots. User is responsible for obtaining additional clearances before publishing this clip. Footage contains photographs or artwork. User is responsible for obtaining additional clearances before publishing this clip.
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