Romantic marriage proposal in Thailand

Many, many years ago I married a Dutch woman. The preparation for that marriage, as far as I remember, had little to do with romance. I didn't get down on my knees or do any other antics asking, "Will you marry me?".

It was just a logical consequence of in love - engaged - married. Sweet words enough, they were not meant for others but for ourselves and no one else had anything to do with how we showed love to each other.

Currently, in the age of many social media, it is popular to propose to a lady in a special way. Look on YouTube and you will find countless videos with special and sometimes spectacular marriage proposals. Some of these videos are a few years old and when watching them I sometimes wonder if those two “so deeply in love” man and woman are still together. I didn't need that romance. We loved each other “eternally” and pledged allegiance “till death do us part.” That eternity lasted 34 years until my wife passed away, and few people can boast of such a long period.

In Thailand, too, videos of special marriage proposals are regularly posted on the media and there is even a prize available for the most beautiful video in this genre. This year's winner is a video of Ariya Kumpilo, a restaurant owner in Bangkok, who put his then-future wife in a golf cart somewhere at a resort, promising to put on a show for her. Unsuspectingly, Ploy, the lady, drives that buggy and successively sees colleagues, friends and relatives, including her and his parents, dancing behind the buggy.

When the music stops, Ariya walks through a crowd of people, showing Ploy how and why he wants to marry her. He does so with placards written in Thai, the text of which reads roughly:
“Ploy, thank you so much for trusting me and deciding to leave something behind to share your life with such an ordinary guy like me, who is definitely not perfect. But as long as I know you by my side, I'm not afraid of anything. You are my willpower, my support and my love. You are the life partner I thought I would never find. I promise that from now on I will make sure that you can always smile and be happy. I only want one thing….”Marry me.”

Of course Ploy says yes and the party can begin. According to the message, the video has already been clicked almost 6 million times, but that seems like a lot to me. I also watched a few times and to be honest, I may not have a romantic streak, but I do like these kinds of films”.

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