Discover the Life of Miss Universe Thailand!

Image source – Greg Doyle, CC BY 1.0, via Wikimedia Commons

How much do you know about Miss Universe Thailand? Miss Universe is the prestigious international beauty contest. 

With more than 500 million viewers across the world, Miss Universe has turned into one of the most popular contests in the world!

Though it’s a beauty contest, as we will see from Miss Thailand, it goes way further than just beauty. Miss Universe contest was first shown up to the TV screens in 1955. Wonderful ladies from many different countries have been contesting for the desired crown. And this time we will talk about one of those beautiful ladies – Amanda Obdam and her path into her success.

Amanda Obdam is a model and a beauty who has participated in multiple beauty contests, winning some of them or entering the participant’s top lists. Yet, it’s not only her beauty that impresses the judges at the pageants but also her intelligence and inner beauty. The fluency with which she answers the questions and the confidence she has when representing herself cannot go unnoticed. But let’s learn about the model and her path to success.

Miss Universe Thailand – Amanda Obdam

Miss Universe Thailand Amanda Obdam was born in Phuket, Thailand on June 17, 1993. Her father is a Dutch-Canadian and her mother is Thai-Chinese. The height of Amanda Obdam is 5’7’’. The model was attending Satree Phuket School. Then, she went to British International School which is also in Phuket. After that, Amanda moved to Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The model has co-founded the Batika Studio product line. The Batika Studio is supporting traditional batik art by producing sustainable clothes and bags.

History of Contests

So, in 2003, Amanda participated Miss Noppamas contest which was held in Phuket. This was her first beauty contest that she participated in. Later in 2004, Phuket has suffered from a severe tsunami and Amanda started volunteering to help to recover from that tsunami. 2006 was the year when she finished her open water certificate and started diving in 2007. In 2015, Amanda graduated with distinction from the University of Toronto Mississauga in Mississauga, Ontario. She has a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. At that same year, Amanda was among the Top 10 contestants in Miss Thailand World 2015 contest. Next, in 2016, she won Miss Grand Phuket 2016 and could also enter the top 10 participants of Miss Grand Thailand 2016. And later she also represented Thailand at Miss Tourism Metropolitan International 2016 in Cambodia where she took first place.

On October 10, 2020, Amanda won Miss Universe Thailand 2020 which was held in Bangkok, Thailand. On May 16, 2021, at the age of 27, Amanda represented Thailand in Miss Universe 2020 at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida, United States. According to 2021 Miss Universe betting odds, Miss Thailand has been in third place among the top candidates. You can also place your bets on different events at Intertops Casino! Check other online sportsbooks in Thailand too. 

The Woman Who Knows How to Impress

Amanda is turning 28 this year, and as we said, she knows how to show the world true herself. And that’s one of her most powerful tools that helps her keep going and impressing people around her. The model gave a strong performance at Miss Universe national contest. Amanda amazed everyone with her outfit that was encouraged by Siamese Fighting Fish. It’s a national aquatic animal in Thailand.

Miss Universe Thailand can definitely see how Thai beauty standards are changing. And though there has not been much of the chance, Amanda feels that something’s changed. The model believes that Thai beauty contests that took place in the last few years have contributed to accepting different kinds of beauty. This especially has been the case in 2014 when Maeya Nonthawan won Miss Thailand World 2014. Maeya opened the way for the darker-skinned ladies to have the chance to participate and rival for the crown. This indicates a big rise in the entertainment industry.

“I think beauty pageants are so good, it gives us the platform to empower other women. So many women are applying from different backgrounds, coming together to empower one another, and people that weren’t deemed to be beautiful are now more confident to enter the competition as well.” – as Amanda says.

Not Everything is as Easy as It Seems

Social expectations start heavily affecting models after the participation at the beauty pageants. However, in the case of Amanda, it happened before she even joined any of the contests. It happened back when she was living in Canada.

When returning back to Thailand during her summer break after she completed the first year of her studies, Amanda has gained about 20 kilograms. Surely, this hugely affected her as well as the reactions of the people around her.

“And the sense I got was “Did you go to Canada to study or just to eat?” I was taken back by that comment, and it really hurt.” – as the model says.

And it did not stop at that point. This started affecting her more and more. And that also made her more emotional when talking about her brother who is also a bit overweight, as she says.

What It All Led To?

Undoubtedly, the pressures and reactions led Amanda to have an eating disorder. And this disorder later grew into mental health issues. To the point that she started viewing food as the enemy to herself. It continued this way for a long time. Her friends and roommates started asking if she needed help. Nevertheless, Amanda herself did not realize that she actually needed help.

After it, there have been many times when Amanda just kept crying and feeling desperate in the need of help. So, she was trying to reach out to friends and family back home. It took a while for Amanda to recover. Yet, after she could conquer the disorder, she realized that does not have the chance to become what other people need to see.

It Encouraged Miss Universe Thailand to…

This experience made Miss Universe Thailand start working on the campaign called “Have you listened?”. This campaign’s main goal is to spread awareness about various mental health disorders so that people do not stay ignorant and help them.

And the most crucial part that Amanda drew people’s attention to – is to encourage everyone to listen better to others.

“You are beautiful just the way you are” – Amanda encourages every woman to become more self-confident and recognize their worth.

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