Sustaining Thailand's Stride: Asia's Unfulfilled Promise
Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2016 9:26 am
On 2015, there is no doubt in our mind that next to the Filipinos who won their third Miss Universe crown after forty-plus years, the Thais were the happiest with the result of the 64th Miss Universe pageant as their country's delegate, Aniporn Chalermburanawong, returned the country into the semifinals of the pageant which they, like their Filipino neighbors, consider as the ultimate pageant arena.
Over the years, Thailand distinguished itself in pageantry as the other Asian country that places and wins just like China, Lebanon , India, Israel, Japan, and the Philippines in international beauty contests. But so unlike the last four mentioned countries that cemented their position as global powerhouses of beauty, Thailand seems to be standing in not so stable position; as it almost always find itself caught up in the throes of possible emergence only to be found submerging again in ignominy with failed take-offs.
For years, Thailand has been playing the role of Asia's unfulfilled promise; a country whose presence never really made a big dent when it should have due largely to their failure to sustain their wins with strong follow-ups.
To an outsider looking into Thais affair in pageantry, it is puzzling why Thailand never managed to have a long streak of placements in Major pageants specially at Miss World and Miss Universe.
If we're to look at Thailand's record we could easily notice the dismal reality that after they placed once or twice consecutively those placements are almost always followed by years of non-placements in the aforementioned pageants.
Pageant Placements Best result
Miss Universe 8 Winner (1965, 1988)
Miss World 7 3rd Runner-up (1989)
Miss International 15 1st Runner-up (1971, 2010)
Miss Earth 8 2nd Runner-up (2010, 2013)
Total 38 2 Winners
Based on their recent records; Thailand is doing fairly well at Miss International and Miss Earth where they impressively placed a good number of times and with consecutive placements to boast.
They placed the most at Miss International with 15 placements which include three Runners-up victories while they placed eight times at Miss Earth with two elemental crowns. Those placements while impressive can be largely attributed to the fact that in Big 5 pageants (MW, Miss Universe, MI, and ME) Thailand's sash*factor are naturally stronger in the younger pageants as the nation shared an affinity with the Philippines as co-Southeast Asian and answers to the bias and preference of the Japanese for a fair skinned type of beauty; not to mention the fact that Thailand sends contestants whose reserve personalities fit what MIO is looking for their would be queens.
So the questions that we must now answer are: Why and how come Thailand is failing to sustain its strides? And what's to be done specially for it to confront head on the challenge of not allowing itself to be overshadowed by the rising Asian stars of pageantry that happen to be its neighbors - Indonesia, Vietnam and even Myanmar (personally, I myself is betting on the possibility that Indonesia will overtake Thailand in a shorter time than expected as far as placements and winnings are concerned)?
The Goods.
It should be cited that Thailand has one of the most vibrant pageant scenes in the world. Unlike in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam; religious and political restrictions on beauty pageants are almost non-existent if not totally absent in Thailand. Thailand, also has one of the longest tradition in pageant participation than most of its neighbors. But special mention must be made on the following:
1. Thailand's national pageant organizations. - There is no denying that Thailand has some of the best national pageant organizations in the world not only on their ability to give spectacular shows for their national finals but for the way they provide support for their representatives in international competitions. The way their queens are given training and clothing show that the Thai organizations never spare anything for their representatives.
More than that, these national pageant organizers with their successful staging of Miss Universe and Thai-based international pageants such as Miss Queen International and Miss Gwand International also placed these organizations under the radars of International pageant organizations as ideal partners for hosting their pageants (in Thailand).
2. Market - With a large fandom and pageant community, Thailand is a major market that international pageant organizations cannot ignore and would want to please and conquer.
While they are not as influential as the Filipinos and the Indians they nevertheless has the numbers as a large market.
3. The beauty of the Thais - Its large population offers an assured, continuing, available and diverse sources of would be representatives.
Sadly, while Thailand has the above strengths it also has the following weaknesses.
The Bad
1. Failed Marketing strategy - As stated above, Thailand's national organizations provide for their delegates but these organizations failed to take the initiative in marketing their delegates. In the last five years, we were treated to nothing but the same refrain of the Thai beauty queens having the "bestest" outfits, with the brands of their suitcases even given emphasis.
In last year's editions of Big4 pageants the foreign fans learned more about the Thai national costumes and the outfits of the Thai beauty queens and less about their representatives!
And of course, what's worst than over selling your candidates?
(images from http://www.facebook.com/The-New-Big-Four-International-Beauty-Pageants-555046951270902/?fref=ts)
2. The fans - Indeed the Thais is an important market and one that any international pageant organization would want to please if only to be patronized by them. But some Thais are bringing fanaticism to extreme. Yes, it is but right to rant when you disagree with the result of the contest but one must learn to draw the line.
Creating memes that ripped at pageant organizers and of the pageant itself may be seen as funny and as just comueppance to a perceived injustice; but such actions will not in anyway endear the Thais to the international pageant organizations and to their (pageants) fans.
In the long run such actions will likely work against Thailand as these place the international organizations and pageant organizations in a quandary as their future actions, specially those that are favorable to Thailand, might be seen as a move to just silence their critics by other fans.
3. The Thai representatives. As a pageant follower, I found it very safe to say that the Thai representatives are among the best in doing vanishing acts in the competitions; they are everywhere and nowhere in pageants where they are competing. They lack the initiatives to seize and create opportunities to be noticed and oftentimes were being noticed mostly for the wrong reasons.
Remember Miss Thailand at Miss Universe '12, '13, '14? And what about the beautiful Nonthawan 'Maeya' Thongleng who even declared that she'll engaged the Philippines' Valerie Weigmann at the Miss World in an interview before MW '14 ? They been marketed as frontrunners during their times but all failed to match the hype made on them. Thongleng as we all know by now failed to make the first cut and only made the semis through the Thai fans.
A quick review of the international contests where they took part will also gives us an idea that Thailand's delegates almost always top the list of having the most number of (published) selfies and groupies. Yes, a candidate must enjoy and have fun in the competition BUT he'she must learn to at least have the prudence not to give the impression that he/she's no longer just enjoying the competition but his/her vacation. They are after all are applying for a job! In last year's Miss Universe editions both Paulina Vega and Pia Wurtzbach along with their runners-up were both described by their competitors as serious and too self-occupied.
With those observations made, Thailand then must built on the achievements they had in the previous years and work to make its advantages work for them to further strengthen its brand equity through the following:
Next to the Philippines, Thailand is the most successful Asian country in major pageants in the first five years of this decade as they also managed to place at least once in each of the major pageants which make it, - Frst - necessary for them to review and even repeat those things that could have possibly worked for them. At Miss International contest for example, they placed consecutively by sending experienced delegates from Miss Earth so sending crossover beauties, not necessarily a former ME queen, must always be considered as an option.
Second; pageant organizers in Thailand must also train and prepare their delegates for the mental rigors of being in an international contest specially on sustaining their competitiveness up to the finish. Oftentimes we watch Thai candidates start in the competition strong only to lose steam at mid-stream.
Third; Considering that beauty queens are now expected to be the face and spokeperson of the international pageants Thailand must also prepare and train their delegates at least in conversational English. Forget janine Tugonon's answer which is only ideal but not necessarily realistic. English is the universal language and the language of pageantry. We must accept the fact that the Thai language while beautiful is not English and not even among the languages being used globally. Note that in the last 20 years beauty pageants were won by countries whose languages are widely spoken and are considered official languages of the United Nations or of international businesses and organizations - Spanish, Russian, Chinese etc. - which the Thai language is not.
Fourth; The national organizations and the Thai fans MUST also learn to make noise and market their delegates. Their DELEGATES and not their delegates' accessories! And they must of course do it without exaggeration. Make the world pay attention to their delegates' actual strength instead of somethings that are non-existent.
Thais must realized that in pageants, their delegate is their product and their country is the brand; so they must ask what their delegate could realistically brought into the table and market that strength.
Describing your delegate as the "bestest" in Asia just can't capture the imagination specially when the person being described could easily bested by others. Venezuela captured the world by presenting perfection. India rose on the 90's with their delegates reputation for philosophical way of answering questions; while the Philippines reclaimed its glory by showing the world that the Filipinas could walk!
The Thai delegates must learn from the examples set by their successful predecessors. Punika Kulsoontornrut, for example did not accomplish her feats by passively waiting for things to happen for her. Her actions matched the hype and the marketing being done for her. Thailand managed to place again at Miss Universe because Aniporn never stayed in the background but made the world paid her attention.
As the new pageant year is to unfold, Thailand is now in a crossroad of whether or not they spend the year again clapping in the background or building on the mark made by Aniporn. Just like the other countries that placed last year, Thailand now has the attention of the world which are waiting for their follow-up. Waiting to see whether they will send a delegate that will bring the fight into a notch higher than last year or a candidate that will once again take to the background and comforting herself by the fact that they just placed last year.
More than that the challenge is for the entire pageant community to show the world that they can actually work n'sync with each other. That the organizations provide for their queens and initiate the promotion of their candidates' REAL strengths which the Thai fans could highlight and hype for the world to consume whenever they invade pageant related blogs and sites While the Thai delegates must work hard to match the hype.
Over the years, Thailand distinguished itself in pageantry as the other Asian country that places and wins just like China, Lebanon , India, Israel, Japan, and the Philippines in international beauty contests. But so unlike the last four mentioned countries that cemented their position as global powerhouses of beauty, Thailand seems to be standing in not so stable position; as it almost always find itself caught up in the throes of possible emergence only to be found submerging again in ignominy with failed take-offs.
For years, Thailand has been playing the role of Asia's unfulfilled promise; a country whose presence never really made a big dent when it should have due largely to their failure to sustain their wins with strong follow-ups.
To an outsider looking into Thais affair in pageantry, it is puzzling why Thailand never managed to have a long streak of placements in Major pageants specially at Miss World and Miss Universe.
If we're to look at Thailand's record we could easily notice the dismal reality that after they placed once or twice consecutively those placements are almost always followed by years of non-placements in the aforementioned pageants.
Pageant Placements Best result
Miss Universe 8 Winner (1965, 1988)
Miss World 7 3rd Runner-up (1989)
Miss International 15 1st Runner-up (1971, 2010)
Miss Earth 8 2nd Runner-up (2010, 2013)
Total 38 2 Winners
Based on their recent records; Thailand is doing fairly well at Miss International and Miss Earth where they impressively placed a good number of times and with consecutive placements to boast.
They placed the most at Miss International with 15 placements which include three Runners-up victories while they placed eight times at Miss Earth with two elemental crowns. Those placements while impressive can be largely attributed to the fact that in Big 5 pageants (MW, Miss Universe, MI, and ME) Thailand's sash*factor are naturally stronger in the younger pageants as the nation shared an affinity with the Philippines as co-Southeast Asian and answers to the bias and preference of the Japanese for a fair skinned type of beauty; not to mention the fact that Thailand sends contestants whose reserve personalities fit what MIO is looking for their would be queens.
So the questions that we must now answer are: Why and how come Thailand is failing to sustain its strides? And what's to be done specially for it to confront head on the challenge of not allowing itself to be overshadowed by the rising Asian stars of pageantry that happen to be its neighbors - Indonesia, Vietnam and even Myanmar (personally, I myself is betting on the possibility that Indonesia will overtake Thailand in a shorter time than expected as far as placements and winnings are concerned)?
The Goods.
It should be cited that Thailand has one of the most vibrant pageant scenes in the world. Unlike in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam; religious and political restrictions on beauty pageants are almost non-existent if not totally absent in Thailand. Thailand, also has one of the longest tradition in pageant participation than most of its neighbors. But special mention must be made on the following:
1. Thailand's national pageant organizations. - There is no denying that Thailand has some of the best national pageant organizations in the world not only on their ability to give spectacular shows for their national finals but for the way they provide support for their representatives in international competitions. The way their queens are given training and clothing show that the Thai organizations never spare anything for their representatives.
More than that, these national pageant organizers with their successful staging of Miss Universe and Thai-based international pageants such as Miss Queen International and Miss Gwand International also placed these organizations under the radars of International pageant organizations as ideal partners for hosting their pageants (in Thailand).
2. Market - With a large fandom and pageant community, Thailand is a major market that international pageant organizations cannot ignore and would want to please and conquer.
While they are not as influential as the Filipinos and the Indians they nevertheless has the numbers as a large market.
3. The beauty of the Thais - Its large population offers an assured, continuing, available and diverse sources of would be representatives.
Sadly, while Thailand has the above strengths it also has the following weaknesses.
The Bad
1. Failed Marketing strategy - As stated above, Thailand's national organizations provide for their delegates but these organizations failed to take the initiative in marketing their delegates. In the last five years, we were treated to nothing but the same refrain of the Thai beauty queens having the "bestest" outfits, with the brands of their suitcases even given emphasis.
In last year's editions of Big4 pageants the foreign fans learned more about the Thai national costumes and the outfits of the Thai beauty queens and less about their representatives!
And of course, what's worst than over selling your candidates?
(images from http://www.facebook.com/The-New-Big-Four-International-Beauty-Pageants-555046951270902/?fref=ts)
2. The fans - Indeed the Thais is an important market and one that any international pageant organization would want to please if only to be patronized by them. But some Thais are bringing fanaticism to extreme. Yes, it is but right to rant when you disagree with the result of the contest but one must learn to draw the line.
Creating memes that ripped at pageant organizers and of the pageant itself may be seen as funny and as just comueppance to a perceived injustice; but such actions will not in anyway endear the Thais to the international pageant organizations and to their (pageants) fans.
In the long run such actions will likely work against Thailand as these place the international organizations and pageant organizations in a quandary as their future actions, specially those that are favorable to Thailand, might be seen as a move to just silence their critics by other fans.
3. The Thai representatives. As a pageant follower, I found it very safe to say that the Thai representatives are among the best in doing vanishing acts in the competitions; they are everywhere and nowhere in pageants where they are competing. They lack the initiatives to seize and create opportunities to be noticed and oftentimes were being noticed mostly for the wrong reasons.
Remember Miss Thailand at Miss Universe '12, '13, '14? And what about the beautiful Nonthawan 'Maeya' Thongleng who even declared that she'll engaged the Philippines' Valerie Weigmann at the Miss World in an interview before MW '14 ? They been marketed as frontrunners during their times but all failed to match the hype made on them. Thongleng as we all know by now failed to make the first cut and only made the semis through the Thai fans.
A quick review of the international contests where they took part will also gives us an idea that Thailand's delegates almost always top the list of having the most number of (published) selfies and groupies. Yes, a candidate must enjoy and have fun in the competition BUT he'she must learn to at least have the prudence not to give the impression that he/she's no longer just enjoying the competition but his/her vacation. They are after all are applying for a job! In last year's Miss Universe editions both Paulina Vega and Pia Wurtzbach along with their runners-up were both described by their competitors as serious and too self-occupied.
With those observations made, Thailand then must built on the achievements they had in the previous years and work to make its advantages work for them to further strengthen its brand equity through the following:
Next to the Philippines, Thailand is the most successful Asian country in major pageants in the first five years of this decade as they also managed to place at least once in each of the major pageants which make it, - Frst - necessary for them to review and even repeat those things that could have possibly worked for them. At Miss International contest for example, they placed consecutively by sending experienced delegates from Miss Earth so sending crossover beauties, not necessarily a former ME queen, must always be considered as an option.
Second; pageant organizers in Thailand must also train and prepare their delegates for the mental rigors of being in an international contest specially on sustaining their competitiveness up to the finish. Oftentimes we watch Thai candidates start in the competition strong only to lose steam at mid-stream.
Third; Considering that beauty queens are now expected to be the face and spokeperson of the international pageants Thailand must also prepare and train their delegates at least in conversational English. Forget janine Tugonon's answer which is only ideal but not necessarily realistic. English is the universal language and the language of pageantry. We must accept the fact that the Thai language while beautiful is not English and not even among the languages being used globally. Note that in the last 20 years beauty pageants were won by countries whose languages are widely spoken and are considered official languages of the United Nations or of international businesses and organizations - Spanish, Russian, Chinese etc. - which the Thai language is not.
Fourth; The national organizations and the Thai fans MUST also learn to make noise and market their delegates. Their DELEGATES and not their delegates' accessories! And they must of course do it without exaggeration. Make the world pay attention to their delegates' actual strength instead of somethings that are non-existent.
Thais must realized that in pageants, their delegate is their product and their country is the brand; so they must ask what their delegate could realistically brought into the table and market that strength.
Describing your delegate as the "bestest" in Asia just can't capture the imagination specially when the person being described could easily bested by others. Venezuela captured the world by presenting perfection. India rose on the 90's with their delegates reputation for philosophical way of answering questions; while the Philippines reclaimed its glory by showing the world that the Filipinas could walk!
The Thai delegates must learn from the examples set by their successful predecessors. Punika Kulsoontornrut, for example did not accomplish her feats by passively waiting for things to happen for her. Her actions matched the hype and the marketing being done for her. Thailand managed to place again at Miss Universe because Aniporn never stayed in the background but made the world paid her attention.
As the new pageant year is to unfold, Thailand is now in a crossroad of whether or not they spend the year again clapping in the background or building on the mark made by Aniporn. Just like the other countries that placed last year, Thailand now has the attention of the world which are waiting for their follow-up. Waiting to see whether they will send a delegate that will bring the fight into a notch higher than last year or a candidate that will once again take to the background and comforting herself by the fact that they just placed last year.
More than that the challenge is for the entire pageant community to show the world that they can actually work n'sync with each other. That the organizations provide for their queens and initiate the promotion of their candidates' REAL strengths which the Thai fans could highlight and hype for the world to consume whenever they invade pageant related blogs and sites While the Thai delegates must work hard to match the hype.