Pattaya – Lips locked at all times including for bathroom breaks and meals is the less than romantic challenge facing Thai couples trying for the kiss to blow away all kisses at a Valentine’s Day marathon.

Seven couples had brought their lips together in the Thai beach resort of Pattaya, some 100 km Southeast of Bangkok, hoping to break the world record for longest continuous kiss which currently stands at nearly two days.

A Thai couple kisses during a competition for the "World's Longest Continous Kiss" ahead of Valentine’s Day in Pattaya on February 12, 2012. Seven couples took part in the kissing marathon in the hope of breaking the Guinness world record, and in the process to receive prizes totalling more than 200,000 Thai baht (6,666 USD) and a diamond ring. AFP PHOTO

The marathon kicked off on Sunday and would go through Valentine’s Day, with prizes and glory for the pair that manages to hold out longer than 46 hours, 24 minutes and nine seconds.

That record was set in 2011 by Lakkana Tiranarat, 31, and her husband, both back this year for another go.

“We’ll try to do better than last year but maybe just for a little longer. We’ll see how tough the other competitors are but we’ll do our best,” Lakkana said.

Each couple has a space of one square metre to prove their affection for each other.

Food and drink must be taken through a straw.

Teeth brushing would also risk breaking the locked lips and result in disqualification.

The toilet is off-limits for the first three hours of the contest.

After that, lips still together, they must be accompanied by a referee for any later bathroom break.

Suggesting the contest has more to do with ordeal than romance, the organisers noted that the number of contestants had fallen by half from last year’s marathon.

“The world record last year of 46 hours, 24 minutes and nine seconds is very difficult to beat. Contestants have to be patient to prove their love,” said Somporn Naksuethrong, general manager of Ripley’s World Pattaya.

The record-breaking couple stands to gain a diamond ring worth three thousand dollars and a hotel gift voucher for 200,000 baht as well as, presumably, very sore lips. (Reuters/NAN)

China zoo plans Valentine wedding for deer and ram

BEIJING (AFP) – A Chinese zoo is to hold a Valentine’s Day wedding for a male sheep and a female deer whose unconventional relationship captured the public imagination, the official Xinhua news agency said Monday.

Visitors have flooded to the wildlife park in the southwestern province of Yunnan to see the sheep, whose Chinese name Changmao means long hair, and the deer, Chunzi (pure), after zookeepers revealed online that the pair had begun mating.

The wildlife park is to issue 500 special tickets, at 66 yuan (around $10) apiece, for the occasion, the state-run China News Service reported.

But experts warned against attaching human qualities to animals.

“Leaving them alone is the best choice,” Xinhua quoted biologist Wang Dajun as saying.