A revolutionary concept of dating for career-driven and time-starved men and women has arrived in Bangkok after its success in Singapore and the US.

Tired of mismatches and disaster dates or too busy meeting people outside your workplace? Then maybe, it’s the right time to seek professional matchmaking services to find a suitable date for you.

It’s Just Lunch (IJL), an upscale dating service that caters to well-heeled individuals who almost have everything except time, has just launched its Bangkok office, the second in Asia.

Anisa Hassan, who owns the Bangkok franchise, says IJL is a proactive approach to one’s personal life.

“As first date specialists, we arrange fun lunch dates and drinks after work for busy professionals,” she says.

“We offer a new alternative...that they don’t put their personal lives on hold.”

After the success of IJL in Singapore, the first franchise in Asia, Hassan and her team decided to venture to Bangkok where “millions of singles live, work and date”. Bangkok also has one of the highest concentrations of expatriates in Southeast Asia. “Bangkok is ready for a new revolutionary concept like It’s Just Lunch.”

A former TV journalist, Hassan is called Miss Match in Singapore and was awarded the 2006 Women Entrepreneur Award for her matchmaking work.

She says with the opening of Bangkok office, members of IJL can enjoy inter-city dating and expand their dating prospects. It also allows them to squeeze in more quality dates when they are travelling on business or pleasure between Bangkok and Singapore.

Hassan calls their product ‘low risk, low stress’ because they carefully choose their members and dates are done in the “most discreet and safest environment” unlike those who are hooked up through online dating sites.

No wonder it is called It’s Just Lunch and not It’s Just Dinner. Hassan reasons they specialise in first dates and lunch is the most appropriate time of the day for people who are busy at work. But she assures that lunch is enough for most people to decide whether they would like to have another date with a person. And if sparks don’t fly, it is easy for one party to escape the ‘bad’ date, making work as an effective excuse.

At the time of IJL’s launching, one Thai guy had tried its inter-city dating in Singapore. Convincing him to relate his experience would not be easy because privacy and confidentiality are highly valued, says Hassan.

Not everyone can join IJL because membership is by invitation, aside from having to shell out 25,000-baht (US$787) for annual membership fee. It entitles a member a minimum of 12 introductions a year.

Clients are interviewed by IJL consultants to discern what they look for in potential partners—what has worked for them in the past and what has not. After they pass a ‘qualifications test’, their names are carefully kept on file, ready to be introduced in the world of dating.

IJL arranges everything, including a place for lunch. Usually on first dates, the ‘Dutch treat’ applies. It is then up to the couple if they would still want to meet for a second date. Then they could decide who will pay the bill and whether they meet beyond lunch is up to them.

“You can’t buy happiness but you can invest in one. It’s like hiring a recruiter. You ask the recruiter what you want,” says Hassan believing that there are many people who are used to having things done for them. “They have personal trainers, dog walkers, masseurs, so why not personal matchmakers?”

But how effective is this method? In the United States, where it was born in 1991, a group of disgruntled women have complained of not getting the kind of men they asked from IJL.

“Matches were horrible, no one cared about what I was looking for and the men were old and obviously not after a permanent relationship,” says Susan of Tampa, Florida in her blog in consumeraffairs.com, a US-based website.

“I’ve had men stand me up, one after I drove 40 miles to meet him in downtown San Diego, and others act like idiots on the dates. One man was so rude to the waiter where we had dinner, I left the table and apologised to the staff in the hallway. Last one I went on was sort of normal, until he drank several beers and told me some of his interests, which were totally repugnant to me—and he doesn’t cut his hair!” says another ‘angry’ woman named Sarah of Arlington, Virginia.

These cases may have happened in the US but Hassan says in Singapore they have been successful because they give highest importance in pre-screening dates.

For a city with 1 million singles, Singapore has 2,500 IJL members. Since 2004, between 40-50 clients sign up every month. There are 40 known couples who got married after first dates arranged by their service, says Hassan.

IJL claims to be the world’s biggest matchmaking agency with more than 100 offices worldwide.

It was started by a Chicago woman Andrea McGinty who was dumped by her fiancé five weeks before the wedding. Mending a broken heart, she decided to set up IJL to help people find suitable partners who meet the highest level of chemistry. She has then turned her heartbreak into a multi-million-dollar international matchmaking business. It has arranged over 2 million first dates in 16 years or about 50,000 dates each month.

But while IJL assures fun first dates, it does not offer relationship or grooming advice because they assume that clients would dress and act their part.

So if you are bored with meeting the same people, tired of eating alone or just interested in meeting like-minded individuals, It’s Just Lunch might be just for you.

Dating Game

17%: The chance of liking a date set up by a friend.

1 in 8: The chance you have that a first date will call you for a second date after 24 hours have passed.

1 hour: The time it takes for a woman to determine whether or not she wants to see a man again.

15 minutes: The time it takes for a man to determine whether or not he wants to see a woman again.

28%: Percentage of singles in Bangkok who say they do not plan to meet other singles through social networking sites.

Wednesday: The best day for a first date according to 41% of singles. (By JOFELLE P TESORIO In Bangkok/ ANN/ AsiaNews)

For more dating facts, visit itsjust lunchbangkok.com or itsjustlunchsingapore.com