Vowing the Crowd

Happily ever after is indeed the case for five of six men who went to Thailand in search of love and marriage two years ago as part of a ten-day trip with Richard Beals’ Denver-based Thailand Romance Tours. The company was founded by Richard and his wife, Seow, who guided the group and took them to a few different Thai towns, introducing them to a plethora of women who were all “marriage minded.”

On this particular trip, Scoobie from New York fell for a woman almost half his age. “She busts my chops,” Scoob says. “But I’m happy and she’s happy, too.” As are Ben from the East Coast, Greg from Ohio and Lee from Illinois, who all brought Thai brides home to America with them. Sammy from Washington, on the other hand, elected to move to Thailand with his new wife. The two are now building a school together.
“Everybody’s doing great, everybody’s still together, that was a very successful tour,” Richard says.

Only one trip member, Bobby, who has since left Denver and returned to his hometown in California, didn’t marry. But Richard isn’t disappointed, saying Bobby preferred pay-for-sex services over the casual Thai dates that he arranges, where no money is exchanged and no expectations exist.

According to the National Center for Health Statistics, one in five adults has divorced at least once. Richard is proud that he and Seow have helped create 33 marriages through their company (with two more pending) and just one has ended in divorce, which Richard blames on the man.

But a tour that was scheduled for February 20 will likely be Richard’s last as flying to the other side of the world to play cupid has taken a toll on his health. Now, he’s planning on living there full time with Seow and their six-year-old daughter, Venus. – Luke Turf