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[title]Time Out sits down with the recently crowned Miss Thailand Universe, and takes a hand in her training by shooting questions pageant judges love to ask.
How would you define beauty?
Sophida: For me, beauty involves more around internal, authentic qualities, and the character of a person—love and compassion, wisdom and virtue, as well as the willingness to support other people. You can use both internal and external beauty to shine and help others.
Sereechai Puttes/Time Out Bangkok
Why do we still need beauty pageants in the era of female empowerment?
Sophida: Every individual, I believe, has her own strength and power to inspire others. As public figures, we are in the spotlight so we have a greater potential to do this. We use the platform to inspire women to listen and to see, and we can inspire these women to help each other and do things to benefit society.
What is the difference between the beauty pageants in the past and now?
Sophida: I believe that beauty pageants now and in the past share the same content and objective. We want to use the beauty pageant platform to inspire other women. We have different [historical] events every era, and we use a different platform to highlight women’s rights. Every era has a different story but we all share the same values—wanting men and women in every society to have equal rights. The modern era is different because we have social media, which we can use wisely to publicize our purpose to our target audience. Nowadays, we have the Time’s Up and #MeToo campaigns [on social media], but before that, in our mothers’ generation, beauty queens really needed to go out and make a speech.
What would you tell the younger generation about women empowerment?
Sophida: For everyone—girls, especially—you were created uniquely for a purpose. You may not know what it is, or you’re stuck on your own failure, can’t move on because that failure keeps hindering your progress. Believe me, with failure, you can learn. Just think of it as a stepping stone, and learn from it to fulfill your dream. I was described as a failure but I found positivity in negativity. I also learn from people around me, and I’m lucky that I have people who empower me to study well and chase my dream. I believe that if we can empower one another like a positive force, we can fulfil our dreams. For girls, don’t let anyone lock you up or hinder your progress. Believe in yourself, that you can do it, and chase your dream. No one can stop you. And for boys, work with girls. Find a girl who will kindly empower you, and together, you can change the world into a better place.
How do you respond to and cope with criticism?
Sophida: As I mentioned in the contest, I believe every woman has their own original beauty that no one can replace. My response is to be true to myself, and let my inner beauty shine to authenticate and validate whether I deserve the title. Everyone has their own judgement. I respect everyone’s opinion. However, I prefer critique to criticism—critique based on clear principles. These help me a lot. I learn from them in terms of self-improvement, and I value them. I respond to criticism by saying “thank you for your concern for me.” As for critique that are not based on clear or good principles, I just ignore it.
Sereechai Puttes/Time Out Bangkok