You black, you bad, you trash: pro-democracy Thai beauty queen faces internet backl
A newly crowned beauty queen has become the target of social media bullying after voicing support for Thailand’s pro-democracy protesters.
Pacharaporn “Nam” Chantarapadit, who was crowned Miss Grand Thailand on Sunday night, has faced a torrent of criticism – much of it centred around her dark skin tone – for her response when asked as part of the pageant for her thoughts on the protests.
“From my heart, I would choose the protesters’ side,” said the 22-year-old, without blinking. “Because we have the right to express our opinion and we want the best for our country.
“Moreover, I want to [tell] the government, ‘If you call this country Thailand, we need real democracy, and we need you to get out of the country’, thank you,” Nam told a screaming crowd.
While Nam went on to win the pageant, the remarks prompted a backlash from pro-establishment groups and she has faced a flood of abuse on the internet, much of it focused on her relatively dark skin. In Thailand, lighter skin has traditionally been linked to people of higher socio-economic status.
Members of the Facebook group PDRC Hot News Update posted a photo of another contender with a lighter skin tone, saying she deserved to be crowned instead of Nam but had been discriminated against because of her political opinions. PDRC stands for the People’s Democratic Reform Committee – the pro-military political group that led the protests against former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s democratically elected government from 2013 to 2014.
MORE. ‘You black, you bad, you trash’: pro-democracy Thai beauty queen faces internet backlash over support for protests | South China Morning Post
