Discovering Thainess with an Indian punch

YOU WOULD THINK our own popular pugilist Buakaw Banchamek would be a great fit to represent the charms of muay thai, but the Tourism Authority of Thailand had another idea when it came to finding a fighter to promote its new “Discover Thainess” campaign.
Coming from the TAT’s bureau in New Delhi is news that five-time World Amateur Boxing champion Mary Kom is our new Ambassador of Thai Boxing. No stranger to muay thai, prior to her latest TAT posting, Kom and her family were invited to Thailand last December to appear in a TAT advertising campaign.
She was filmed visiting boxing stadiums, interacting with Thai fighters and enjoying the sights and sounds of the Kingdom. Another video has her in a traditional Thai dress, visiting temples and taking boat rides with her family. The promotional videos will be shown in India across a range of social and mainstream media, but we probably won’t see it here, though there’s a chance you could run across it on your satellite dish or YouTube.
In addition to five World Amateur Boxing titles, Kom is the only woman boxer to have won a medal in each one of the six world championships. The flyweight fighter is also the only Indian woman boxer to compete in the 2012 Summer Olympics, where she won the bronze medal. And as a mother of three, she became the first Indian female boxer to get a gold medal in the Asian Games in 2014 in Incheon, South Korea.
Soopsip thinks all this makes “Magnificent Mary” a great choice to present the wisdom of muay thai.

Glass slipper half full
Haters love to hate, especially when it comes to sexy luk thung singer Suteewan “Baitoey” Thaveesin, who just can’t seem to catch a break, even when she’s trying to have fun on her birthday.
Wanting to do something special with her friends, Baitoey put on a movie-themed party, and she donned a Cinderella ballgown and blonde wig, which she shared on Instagram.
The result is pretty stunning, and Soopsip might be led to believe Baitoey had simply stepped off the screen of our local multiplex, where the Disney movie is showing.
But critics pointed out at that popular actress Araya “Chompoo” A Hargate had a Disney-themed birthday party last year (when “Frozen” was the big thing) and accused Baitoey of being a copycat.
“Yes, I heard about that party, but I wasn’t trying to copy it,” Baitoey said, feeling a little hurt.
But the added that she is “just a luk thung singer” and wouldn’t dream of competing with a superstar like Chompoo.
“To begin with, all my friends’ costumes were not as glamourous as Chompoo’s. Anyway, I think it was was just me that dressed up a lot,” she said.