We need to take better care |of our ageing babes

FORMER MISS THAILAND Panadda “Boom” Wongphudee, long an outspoken advocate of women’s rights, has earned a string of awards over the years. Most recently the government’s Public Relations Department declared her Outstanding Woman of the Year – the occasion was Father’s Day so we’re not clear on the connection – but it’s a nice feather in her crown anyway.
And yet that’s not the biggest news about Boom at the moment. The still-beautiful former beauty queen is in the middle of another uproar after criticising the way this year’s recent Miss Thailand pageant was managed. It was supposed to be a better-than-usual broadcast on Modernine since the pageant was marking its 80th anniversary.
They got most of the past queens onstage and they were all beaming like they’d just won another crown, but according to Boom, the situation backstage was a different matter. She reported on Instagram that the organiser failed to take good care of their guests. She said she always books her own hotel room when she’s in the city for the pageant so she didn’t learn until later that no food was provided for the ex-winners.
“One of them told me she’d finally been given a glass of water at 6pm, even though her appointment with the organisers was at 1pm!” Evidently the ladies were due at the auditorium at 1 and then onstage at 2. They did about two and half minutes onstage. They got nothing in the way of food or drink to freshen them up before their appearance onstage and nothing for many hours afterward.
Boom’s post online drew quick criticism, with some followers accusing her as trying to discredit the organiser. But that wasn’t her intent, she insisted.
“This is the stage where I was born,” she replied. “I wouldn’t do that. And I’ll defend the contest until I drop dead if anyone tries to attack it. What I did was voice the opinions of the guests.
“I’d like to ask the ladies whether it was worth it given the pageant’s 80-year history and the time allocated for them,” Boom carried on. The organisers should have taken better care of their guests but no one was being held accountable. “No one is taking responsibility – they’re all just pointing figures to each other.”
Asked whether it bothered her that some people would regard her as, well, a trouble-maker, Boom said she didn’t care much. “I’m just saying what the other former beauty queens think, and I think I’m senior enough to voice their grievances.”
Certainly someone has lost face, but Boom doesn’t think it’s her.