UNIVERSALLY BEAUTIFUL
Miss Universe Thailand 2018 Sophida Kanchanarin reflects on her journey, modern beauty pageants, and the road ahead
Standing on a grand stage, Sophida “Ning” Kanchanarin was all smiles when a diamond crown was placed on her head. A large bouquet was given to her, and then she began waving to the onlooking crowd. A sash that reads “Miss Universe Thailand 2018” was draped on her shoulder.
It was something of a fairy tale ending, a dream come true for the 23-year-old investment banking manager with a childhood dream of becoming a beauty queen.
Based in Bangkok, the newly crowned Sophida was born and raised in the country before pursuing her studies abroad. She graduated with a degree in business administration, majoring in finance, from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. After getting herself a stable career, she finally received her parents’ blessing in pursuing her childhood pageantry dream.
“I believe everyone can do many things at the same time. You can be whatever you want,” said Manager Ning (as nicknamed by fans) during our recent meeting at a cafe days after her crowning moment. She was sipping her iced latte casually, telling me that a sugar boost is what keeps her going on a long day.
With one dream fulfilled, a new dream and journey now lies ahead. As the titleholder of Miss Universe Thailand, Sophida will be representing the country at the Miss Universe competition to be held at the end of this year. She continues to practise her walk, talk, posture and stays updated on global news, among other tasks expected of a modern beauty queen getting ready for the big day.
“I can’t wait to meet everyone,” said Sophida of other international contestants, especially those with whom she’s been chatting online. While there has yet to be any official confirmation, word is going around that the big MU could be returning to the Bangkok stage once again. Sophida was excited at the possibility, saying that she’d love to show other contestants around her hometown.
“Since I love to eat, I’ll be their food guru and take them to eat all kinds of Asian food and bingsu [Korean shaved ice dessert], too! I’m going to bring them to Chinatown. I’m sure they’ll love it,” she said. “And we’ll definitely visit Wat Phra Kaew.”
Beauty pageants, over the years, have been criticised for objectifying women, especially as we continue to move towards more progressive narratives of gender equality and female empowerment. For Sophida, who now finds herself navigating the female-dominated arena of beauty contests as opposed to the mostly male world of finance she comes from, she finds her experience to have been quite empowering.
“I do believe one person can inspire others; like Martin Luther King, he inspired black people to stand up for themselves and make things right. Every woman and gender in this world, they’re equal for me. A beauty pageant can then be something that stands up for people’s rights. Women can show the world that they can be leaders and inspire young kids,” she said.
Recently, some pageants have redefined their concept to be more progressive and inclusive to all women. The previous month alone reshaped the modern beauty pageant globally with Miss America announcing it’s ditching the swimsuit competition, while Miss Universe Spain crowned a transgender contestant amidst both praise and disagreement of a worldwide audience, which debated whether transgender and cisgender women should be competing in the same contest or not.
Regarding the swimsuit portion of the competition, Sophida thinks it can encourage women to be fit and healthy, while also displaying a person’s dedication in attaining their desired body.
“For me, it’s not a big deal to wear a swimsuit. But I do respect every culture and thought. Everyone has a different opinion.”
As for the transgender issue, and whether or not we could be seeing similar progress in the Thai pageant in the future, Sophida feels it’s all up to the law.
The Miss Universe organisers have allowed transgender women to compete since 2012 as long as the candidates meet legal gender recognition requirements in their country. In Thailand, however, we have yet to have any form of gender recognition law that would allow a transgender person to change from “Mister” to “Miss” and vice versa.
“In Thailand, if we change the law to allow transgender women to be ‘Miss’ as well, then I think there’s no reason why they cannot be in a beauty pageant,” Sophida said.
One thing Sophida hopes to be able to achieve in her position is to become a voice for the underprivileged. Her focus is for children and people with disability to have accessible facilities, education and job opportunities. This cause is close to her heart as Sophida’s own younger sister was born with a congenital brain defect that left her disabled.
Aside from this personal project, Sophida revealed that with her second runner-up Valentina “Ploy” Giardullo she’s also planning to organise what she called “Little Miss Universe” — a campaign in which they would visit schools and participate in activities with the children. The two wish to encourage children to achieve their dream through a form of mini competition in which the young ones could confidently showcase their talent.
While having her mind set on charity causes, Sophida promised she won’t lose sight of the impending Miss Universe competition. It’s not far off to say her diamond crown comes with heavy responsibility and high public expectations, especially since Thai representatives have been doing extremely well on the MU stage in the past three years, having all reached at least the top 10 of the competition.
The pressure is now on Sophida to carry the torch from her predecessors. The road ahead can be tough as she continues to be subjected to criticism of her appearance, walk and talk, as well as being frequently compared to her four runners up — something she’s been faced with since the night she was crowned.
When the subject was brought up during our conversation, Sophida was in quite a good spirit, saying that she does read both positive and negative online comments directed at her. She takes one for motivation, keeps another to improve in areas she needs to work on, and simply ignores those that are downright offensive.
To get to where she is right now, Sophida said that past failures and criticism have always been her motivation and lesson in life. Admitting outright she was not a smart student, she revealed that she used to fail some subjects back in school. It took dedication and perseverance to become an honour student, a bank manager, and eventually Miss Universe Thailand — with a glistening crown to match.
“You may fail so many times in your life. First of all, you never give up,” she insisted. “Everything is a struggle. Even when you don’t know what to do, just believe in yourself that you can do it.”