SERVICE AT A PRICE
I contacted Pat, a marketing professional and part-time matchmaker, expecting that he could find me a date in time for Valentine’s. There were still a few weeks to go before the big day and I thought he could at least introduce me, as a woman in her mid-twenties, to a few men.
I didn’t have much doubt that Pat had some idea about my character, even before developing a matchmaking profile. I’ve known him in a professional context for almost five years now, and every time we meet he says how he wishes someone “mature” could take me out for dinner or drinks.
This year I decided to give it a try. I sent him a photo in which I wore dark glasses because, regardless of how Pat works with clients, I didn’t want to leave any traces of myself behind. In the profile, I wrote that I needed no “friends with benefits” — the only benefits I wanted was company and someone with a mind of his own.
As soon as Pat saw my profile, he said what I needed “makes sense” and he reiterated the cost of his service: 3,500 baht for a date, 9,000 baht for three of them, 60,000 for a guaranteed relationship and 120,000 for a guaranteed marriage.
“I could go for a date, if you would only guarantee that the man has a job,” I told him. “Of course he has a job,” Pat replied. “Where would you find him?” Pat answered: “From a pool of contacts.” A week passed without word. I emailed Pat, asking how things were going and what kind of dates he thought would match me with. He replied that it should be someone who was “mature, cool and calm” and nothing more.
Things were up in the air at this point, like my destiny was being decided by a pool of strangers neither of us had met. I was hoping to ask for some profiles for me to choose from to speed up the process, but I also wanted to test Pat’s level of matchmaking accuracy.
There was fun to be had seeing if he could live up to his boastful observations about my characteristics over all these years. And if I am going to pick potential partners, I’d rather do that from a pool of more intimate choices in a real-life setting where I could get to really see the guy in the flesh.
So while I was still hesitant, I thought matchmaking was the way to go. I felt more confident in this approach after speaking to MeetDrinks chief executive Natacha Noel. Though I didn’t hire her to find me a match, her insight into the world of matchmaking and distinguishing between The One and everybody else made sense.
“You might be a compatible couple judging by the profiles, but if you meet in person and, even if both of you are physically attractive, have no chemistry, there is no spark. Chemistry is DNA, it is biology. You have to have it.”
But in the end, the chemistry wasn’t there. The promise of a relationship that would end in marriage, and for such a fee, made me dubious and I backed out. Ultimately, I wouldn’t trust a matchmaking service, either in the flesh or online, to guarantee my future.