Meet Opal Philaiwan, Thailand’s next gift to the world
They used to make fun of Philaiwan “Opal” Phimphoolad’s grand ambition
Not bloody likely for a girl from Udon Thani with a dark complexion and a flat nose, they snickered.
You know where this story’s going, though. Opal, now 22 and a third-year law student at Thammasat University, is sharing the runways with the most famous of Thailand’s supermodels and is in demand among European photographers working in the Kingdom.
“I’ve always been self-conscious about my looks, which are typically Isaan – the low bridge on my nose and the square face – which don’t match the ideal in Thai feminine beauty, so I had no confidence at all,” says Opal.
But then one day at a promotional event in a Bangkok department store she met Rojjana “Yui” Phetkanha, who in her time was perhaps the most successful Thai model of them all – “our own Chanel Girl”, they called her. Yui was on the cover of international Vogue, for Heaven’s sake. And Yui came from Isaan too.
“I was totally stunned when I first saw her,” Opal says. “My hair stood on end! She had the same facial features as me and she’d become a successful international model. So she sealed my inspiration to become a model. Without her I wouldn’t have come this far.”
Her dream reinvigorated, Opal entered a slew of “you-too-could-be-a-model” contests and even some beauty pageants – but most of the time got bounced out in the first round.
“It was really hard getting to this stage,” she admits. “I’m tall enough, but people kept saying I couldn’t be a model because I look ‘too rustic’. My worst experience was when a famous commentator scolded me onstage, saying I looked like a country katoey.” Other folks calling “termite face” didn’t help either, of course.
“But all the harsh criticism just drove me on and brought the best out of me. If I’d accepted what they said, I’d have tossed aside my dreams. But I stood my ground, refusing to let the harsh words ruin my self-respect. If I had let the criticism destroy my dreams, I wouldn’t be who I am now.
“I believe everyone has an inner strength and his or her own charm, some unique potential. We simply have to find a way to boost it. I just pushed myself harder to develop my skills and my modelling qualities.”
Opal says she was frequently advised to have cosmetic surgery on her face and take concoctions that claim to lighten the skin. “I just kept saying ‘no’. I want to show the world my unique facial features. I’m proud of my authentic look, which is getting rare in Thailand these days.”
She’s certainly come a long way from the days she went around hunched over so she wouldn’t loom over her school friends. Having managed to straighten out that towering 175cm frame, she’s got great posture and has the walk and the poses down pat.
“I’m still studying, so I have to juggle my time between my textbooks and my fitness regimen,” she says. With Yui in mind, Opal plans to distribute her portfolio around Europe in the hopes of working there and – who knows – maybe becoming the next “Face of Asia”.
