The cheers of beauty queen fanatics in Thailand and the Philippines have turned to jeers as of late, as a rhetorical war has arisen between the two nationalities.
According to MThai, the drama started when Thai netizens noticed Filipino beauty queen Janine Tugonon’s subtly cynical attitude towards her Thai counterparts. Among many posts on her Facebook public page, Tugonon – a model who was named Miss Universe Philippines 2012 and who finished second in the Miss Universe 2012 pageant – compared Chalita Yaemwannang, Miss Universe Thailand 2013, to Kevin Balot, a transgender who was named Miss International Queen 2012. Tugonon also posted a photo of Yaemwannang with no make-up with the message “the one to beat in Miss Universe 2013 – Miss Thailand.”
[[{“type”:”media”,”view_mode”:”media_original”,”fid”:”13466″,”attributes”:{“alt”:””,”class”:”media-image”,”height”:”378″,”style”:”display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;”,”typeof”:”foaf:Image”,”width”:”600″}}]] Thai netizens who were offended by Tugonon’s posts expressed their anger on her Facebook page. The dialogue quickly became heated and has elicited hate speech from both sides. Filipinos have taken to maligning Thailand’s prostitution and human trafficking issues while Thai nationals have attacked the Filipino record on poverty and public health.
Miss Universe 2013 is the 62nd Miss Universe pageant. The date and venue are yet to be announced. Yaemwannang will represent Thailand whereas Ariella Arida will compete on behalf of the Philippines.
