Gay American couple to help promote Thailand tourism

Ben and Brian are one of five couples - and the only gay couple - who have been selected by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) in a social media competition to help boost the flagging tourism industry in Thailand. The competition; Ultimate Thailand Explorers, involved couples submitting 1 minute YouTube videos explaining why they wanted to go to Thailand, 25 finalist were then selected out of over 200 applicants. The final qualifying process was left to the public who voted for who they wanted out of the 25 couples.

The competition involves the 6 couples promoting their chosen destination within Thailand by uploading videos, photos and stories onto various social networking sites, such as; YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. Readers will then vote on the competition website; www.ultimatethailandexplorers.com, for which couple they like best. The winning couple will win a US$10,000 cash prize courtesy of the TAT, further to the competitors prize, registered voters go into a draw with the possibility of winning US$2,500 as well as many other prizes.

Ben and Brian stated to the media, "Neither of us have been to Thailand before, so we are looking forward to learning about the culture, sampling the local cuisine and, of course, discovering the main attractions and beaches that Pattaya has to offer."