Photo: Nawat Itsaragrisil and his statement his Facebook statement
The Miss Grand International Organisation (MGI) has decided to cancel the Miss Grand International 2024 pageant in Cambodia and to fly the beauty queens, hailing from 74 countries, to Bangkok tonight.
Nawat Itsaragrisil, owner of the MGI franchise, said in his Facebook post today that Cambodia is no longer the host of the MGI 2024 pageant, because the country has failed to meet the standard service requirements.
He also said the pageant and relevant activities will be held in Thailand instead.
Nawat disclosed that the main reason of his decision to cancel the pageant in Cambodia was safety, claiming that he and his colleagues were intimidated by Cambodian body guards, who were stationed in front of the hotel where the beauty contestants were staying.
He claimed that the matter has nothing to do with relations between Thailand and Cambodia, but is because the host cannot fulfil the standard requirements as stipulated in the contract.
The cancellation went viral on social media today, with numerous netizens criticising the gala dinner for the beauty contestants, held on a boat in Phnom Penh, saying that it looked more like a “pork barbeque party”.
The official statement from Miss Grand Cambodia reads: “We deeply regret to announce that Miss Grand Cambodia will no longer continue our license with MGI due to a lack of respect and cooperation with Cambodia as the host nation.”
In response to the statement, MGI states “We regret to announce that Cambodia will no longer host Miss Grand International 2024, as the organisers were unable to meet the service standards required by MGI”.
In an announcement, issued this afternoon, Miss Grand Cambodia Sotheary By announced her withdrawal from the pageant, stating that she will not travel to Thailand with the other contestants.
She revealed that several behind-the-scenes issues contributed to her decision and expressed gratitude for Cambodia’s efforts in hosting and welcoming the contestants.
