Sompong Chomphuprapet, a 65-year-old woman from Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand, recently made international headlines for her unconventional approach to finding a boyfriend. She put up a sign on her fence asking interested suitors to ask for more information inside.
With dating sites like Tinder or Bumble so popular these days, and even niche options like slow dating apps, services that let you date people who look like your favorite celebrities, and even dating sites for Trump supporters, it’s hard to believe that anyone would still choose analog over digital when it come to finding a life partner. But for 65-year-old Sompong Chomphuprapet, a divorcee from the Pibul Mangsahan district of Thailand’s Ubon Ratchathani province, putting up a sign outside her house was apparently the best option.
Sompong claims that, so far, she has been unlucky in love, with both her previous marriages ending in divorce. She was originally married to a Thai man, who turned out to be a drunk, after which she left for Germany to work, where she found another husband. Her second marriage lasted 13 years, but it recently ended in divorce as well. The woman returned to her native Thailand and decided to find someone “honest” who will lover and cherish her for the rest of her life.
Instead of asking her friends and family to set her up on dates, or trying online dating, Chomphuprapet put up a sign outside her home that read “A woman aged 65, looking for a boyfriend aged 60-70. Widower on pension. I’m kind, sincere and healthy. If you’re interested, contact here.”
“I want a nice man. Living alone is sad and lonely,” Sompong told reporters. “I want a retired bureaucrat on a pension. I want true love. I want to truly love and live with someone until death do us apart. If someone contacts me, I will see if they’re my type.”
The sign was put up on Sompong fence a week ago, and the woman has already had two applicants, but rejected them both. One of them didn’t have a pension plan, and the other was just 59-years-old, and had a meager state teacher’s pension. Despite his eagerness to love and cherish Sompong, she made it clear that they can’t live on love alone.
“He said he’s a teacher and told me to take the sign down!” Sompong reportedly said. “His pension will be THB20,000 [once he’s retired]. But deducting the money that will pay his debts, he will only have THB8,000 a month. I told him that if I found a boyfriend, my children would cut me off. So THB8,000 is not enough for two people.”
Photos of Sompong Chomphuprapet shaking hands with a smiling mystery man next to her now-famous boyfriend recruiting sign have recently gone viral on Thai social media, leading people to believe that she has finally found her dream man. However, Coconuts Bangkok reports that he is just a random guy who wanted his picture taken with Sompong, and that she is still single. So if you’re a bureaucrat with a good pension, you’re still eligible.
