Американец и его тайская невеста участвуют в конкурсе Variety за звание любимой пары Америки

EASTON — Ted Daly never thought the love of his life would be in another country. But when conversations sparked between him and his now fiancee, Patcha, they both knew it was real, he recalls. The long-distance couple is battling to be voted America’s Favorite Couple in a Variety Magazine contest. Winners receive $20,000 and a dinner date with Jeff and Emilie Goldblum. Daly, 59, a proposal writer for federal contracts, met Patcha, 53, a registered nurse in Korat, Thailand, on Tinder in January 2025. He said he was surprised to match with someone from another country. “It usually does keep it within a certain range,” Daly said about the mileage range on his Tinder profile. “I think mine was 50 miles, but every once in a while you’ll see something from someone 7,000 or 8,000 miles away. I usually ignore them because most of them are either scams, people who just want to come to the U.S. But she had actually filled out a really thoughtful profile describing herself and her career and what she wanted, and I thought probably worth a conversation anyway.” Daly said he and Patcha started messaging back and forth, which eventually progressed into video calls. On March 28, 2025, Daly woke up to the news there had been a 7.7-magnitude earthquake in Thailand. Concerned about Patcha, he called and checked on her. “The first thing I did was was call her, and she’s since told me that that’s the day she knew because nobody else called her,” Daly said. “She’s never had anybody that was so concerned about her well-being.” After the earthquake scare, Daly took his first international flight to meet Patcha in-person. Daly said the trip to Bangkok was life-changing for both of them, spending two weeks together visiting tourist sites and seeing her hometown in Korat. Daly said at this moment, they knew they wanted to get married. “I knew at that point that I wanted this person in my life and I would be sad if she were no longer in my life,” Daly said. After Daly’s two-week visit, Patcha worked to get a visa to come to America, but it was ultimately denied. Since, Daly visited for two months and they have planned for her to move to the United States once the visa is approved. Daly recalls seeing an advertisement for Variety’s Favorite Couple contest one night. With their love story in full swing, he thought the contest would be fun to participate in, and Patcha agreed. “I never thought we’d make it this far,” Daly said. “It’s essentially a popularity contest, and I have never won anything like that before. So just to get this far was more than I ever expected.” To read more about the couple or vote for them, visit americasfavcouple.org/2026/ted-and-patcha. Voting ends Thursday at 10 p.m.