Coronation of Miss Lebanon in Thailand!!!

Australian Rachel Younan crowned the title of Miss Lebanon in the Diaspora for the year 2018, amid a lavish party in the Thai city of Pattaya, on Sunday evening.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand teamed up with the Miss Lebanon Committee and the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation (LBCI) to host the event. As part of the cooperation, the 11 finalists of the beauty contest were flown to Thailand for 5 days, where they filmed the last stage of the activities programme.

Over recent years, Thailand has gained increasing popularity among Arab travelers, attracting a total of 616 visitors from the Middle East in 2017. It is also particularly popular among newlyweds, who go to honeymooners, and Pattaya, Bangkok and Samui are the most visited areas during the month. April, August and December.

The final stage of the competition witnessed the girls competing in front of the jury members, in the presence of a crowd of VIPs and distinguished guests.

Each contestant completed a series of rounds that included appearing in national dress, swimwear, and then evening dresses, hoping to impress the judges. She also attended last year's heart-winning ceremony (Dima Safi) to hand over the crown to the new queen.

The 11 finalists spent five fun days practicing many local activities in Pattaya, including releasing turtles at the Pattaya Research Center, cooking Thai food, participating in yoga classes, and visiting the mangrove forest reserve, the Natural Studies Center, and the Nong Noch National Park which It is the largest tropical botanical garden in Southeast Asia.

Commenting on her, Mrs. Sridha and Annabeniusak, Deputy Governor of International Marketing for Europe, Africa, Middle East and Americas, Tourism Authority of Thailand said: “We are proud to collaborate with the Miss Lebanon Committee and the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation to hold this event for the first time in Thailand. This competition has received a lot of interest from Arab audiences in the Middle East which is an important market for us and we pay great attention to the experiences of female tourists from the Arab region, so hosting this event allowed us to focus on and develop these markets.”

She added, “We were very pleased to host the finalists, to introduce them to Thai culture, and to learn about the unique culture of Lebanon in return. We hope that through this partnership and future cooperation, we will also be able to host a larger number of Arab tourists to learn about the treasures of Thailand.”

In turn, Mr. Antoine Maksoud, Head of the Miss Lebanon Committee for Emigrants, said: “We had a wonderful time in Thailand, this country offers a lot of rich experiences for tourists and all the contestants had a unique opportunity to experience Thai culture at its best and from its main source and we look forward to more partnerships to establish Such occasions in the future.”