On March 29 2007

To see photos please click on Photo at the top bar. Photos are by Nanthasit Nitmetha. Story by Lisnaree Vichitsorasatra

Friday, 16 March 2007

Activity: Shooting VTR for beach at Koh Kradan

     The contestants of Miss Thailand Universe 2007 headed to Koh Kradan beach to shoot for a video of their trip at Trang Province. Everyone, the crew and the press were happy - All the girls will be wrapped in bikinis or swimsuits while sprinkling water on eachother.
     When it was time to get to the real shooting however, most of the girls weren't that excited. The weather was hot as hell, the fiery sun betrays the beautiful skies and the beach. As the caretaker of the Miss Universe told them to "Get up!" they wore a tired look on their face, reluctantly changing their shorts and blouses into swimsuits.
     They were called into little groups. Wearing bright bikinis and swimsuits, the sexiness drew some complaint in the crowd. "Don't you think that girl's bikini is a little revealing?"
    After they got dressed, they lined eachother on a boat, giving their best pose for the camera. Most of them smiled and gave the Miss Thailand Universe wave…
    One brave girl by the name of Khingkan (number 34 contestant) jumped off from the boat…after she splashed down confidently, she squealed that the water was deep and that she didn't know how to swim. But she was quickly saved, before she jumped again!

To get away from the hot sun after watching the beautiful girls pose for the video, I came back to the resort site where the other girls were waiting. So I sat and interviewed some random contestants. Surprisingly there were girls who didn't want to enter the competition in the beginning. 
   I walked to Watcharawan Suntarintu "Ploy", 19, (pictured on the third pic baking a cake, right in the middle) who was sitting right infront of me. She had a cute button-nosed face. She admitted right away that she was forced by her parents to join in the competition. Usually Ploy just likes to act easy-going, instead of forcing herself to be perfect all the time.
   "When we see journalist we have to pose and do anything to look more outstanding than others. When we listen to music we have to clap, or when we see kids we have to run to the children. You wonder a bit with the contestants, if that person is a little fake," Ploy snitched. Her real dream is being an air hostess so she can travel all over the world.
   Nutthanit Towan "Nut", 20, is the polar opposite of Ploy. (click on photo to see her in jeans bikini with red stripes lining). She really wanted to win. Having just graduated from Minnesota in marketing she's been in America for 4 years. She wanted to start a business someday that could in someway help aid education in Thailand or children so starting this competition would help her to network with other friends.
   Her proudest moment was being the president of the International Club at Central Lake College, where she gathered all friends to fundraise for the Tsunami cause.
   There's few traps she had to go through though before winning the competition and Nut admits it's not all that easy. She says she's not a good dancer and she's not so tall as the others at 164 cm. Also after the scrumptious food at the hotel, she gained 4 kilograms! Having been in America, she also had to adapt to Thai culture.
   "Here you have to be more polite. I usually say what I want to say or think, but here you have to be tricky," said Nut. 
 The battle is going to go on for another four days, so the contestants will have to endure waking up at 5 am to put on make-up, train to dance and walk like Miss Universe. Its another tiring day for some but another beautiful beginning.