Even the most casual observers of Thai beauty pageants take notice of our national costumes. They are the embodiment of Thai-style creativity, which transforms cultural icons into something spectacular and wearable. Earlier this week, Miss Universe Thailand 2018 Sophida "Ning" Kanchanarin revealed "Chang, the Icon of Siam" as her Thai national costume.
As the name suggests, the national animal (chang means elephant in Thai) has been incorporated into the costume and, as you may have guessed, people are already debating whether it's worthy of being a national costume at the Miss Universe 2018 pageant, which places on Dec 17 in Bangkok.
In the celebration of the quirky creativity we've seen at beauty pageants over the years, here's a game for you to guess what these famous (and infamous) past national costumes represent. g
ANSWERS:
1. long neck Kayan women who live in Mae Hong Son.
2. the Sri Rattana chedi in Wat Phra Kaew.
3. Loha Prasart or Metal Castle.
4. hope of bringing peace back to the three southernmost provinces. She actually flipped it to reveal a beautiful white dress inside.
5. Totsakan from the national epic Ramakien. The giant has 10 heads.
6. durians. That's how you make smelly fruit fancy.
7. Ratchaburi. You probably don't know that Ratchaburi is famous for bats or that there's a bat cave at Wat Khao Chong Pran.
8. the black dragon horse from the Phra Apai Mani poem. Why Rayong? A monument of famous Thai poet Suthorn Phu, who wrote the epic poem is there. He wasn't born there but it's believed that it was his father's hometown.
