Mirror, mirror on the wall
Beauty pageant season is back! Grab your tiara. Practise your wave. Google the latest social movement. Scream like you’ve just been crowned (or dethroned by Steve Harvey). Miss Universe Thailand 2018 is now in session to search for the top beauty queen who will also represent the country on the Miss Universe world stage. This year’s contest kicked off late last month as pretty ladies of Thai nationality — all of great beauty, high education and impressive profile — paraded into the Renaissance Bangkok Ratchaprasong Hotel holding their application forms in hopes of winning the Miss Universe Thailand crown. With the Top 40 announced last Friday, officially unveiling 2018’s hopeful ladies for the first time to fans, the competition is tougher than ever. A singer, a model, an actress, a university student, a bank manager, a dentist, or even the current Miss Chiang Mai are among this year’s contestants. Pageant fans are already rooting for their favourites, and are running wild with speculation and debate on who will come out on top. Would it be Praveenar Singh (No.14), the gorgeous lady of Indian descent; the Voice Thailand alum, half-Thai, half-Italian beauty Valentina Giardullo (No.11); Aniphan Chalermburanawong (No.9), the older (but equally beautiful) sister of Aniporn, Miss Universe Thailand 2015; or somebody else entirely? All will be revealed during the final round of the competition, to be held on the evening of June 30 at Royal Paragon Hall. The excitement over Miss Universe here has become quite feverish over the past few years. For three consecutive years, each Miss Universe Thailand was able to make the Top 10 on the world stage, moving up from Top 10 with Aniporn Chalermburanawong (2015) to Top 6 with Chalita Suansane (2016), and finally Maria Poonlertlarp finishing at Top 5 last year. Thai beauties are gaining stride internationally and this year, as many have been wishing for, could finally be the year for our country’s own to nab the third Miss Universe crown that people have been waiting for for three decades. Could 30 years be our charm? Many are sure hoping so. The last time Miss Thailand won the Miss Universe crown was when Porntip Simon (née Nakhirunkanok) wowed the judges in Taiwan back in 1988. Before her, Apasra Hongsakula made her mark at the 1965 contest in Florida, becoming Thailand’s first ever Miss Universe. Cheer on for the 2018 ladies as the month-long competition continues tomorrow for the swimsuit round, to be held at Renaissance Bangkok at 7.30pm, and the preliminary round on June 28, 7pm, at Royal Paragon Hall. The final round will take place on June 30, starting at 7pm, at the same venue.