Miss Grand International president terminates Myanmar franchise after Thae Su Nyein returns crown - Thai media

Miss Grand International president Nawat Itsaragrisil has terminated the franchise of Myanmar in the pageant, Thai media reported.

This comes after Miss Grand Myanmar Thae Syu Nein rejected the crown following her second runner-up finish in the competition.

According to a report by Khaosod English, Nawat addressed the issue in a press conference in Bangkok’s Movenpick Sukhumvit 63.

"What makes her so delusional?" he said. "If she wants first place and must have it, I suggest she create her own pageant so she can win every title."

"Someone like you shouldn't participate in anything competitive or challenging others. You should stay in your own imaginary, fantasy virtual world. End of story!"

The report also said MGI issued a lifetime ban against Miss Grand Myanmar National Director Htoo Ant Lwin due to "lack of sportsmanship and business credibility."

Days after the coronation night of Miss Grand International 2024, Thae Syu Nein of Myanmar went on a Facebook Live and announced her intentions to relinquish her crown.

"I'm not controlled by anyone. I just take my own decision. I give back my second-runner up crown just because we don't get what we deserve," she said.

Thae said that she has no bad blood against newly crowned Miss Grand International 2024 Rachel Gupta of India and first runner-up CJ Opiaza of the Philippines.

"I'm not blaming my sisters. I love India. I love the Philippines. They're my best sister[s] of all time. I don't blame them," she said.

Thae then mentioned the National Costume and Country Power of the Year special awards, a category where Myanmar was a frontrunner. She was among the Top 10 candidates for the National Costume award, while she was up against Thailand for the Country Power of the Year plum.

The National Costume awards went to Brazil's Talita Hartmann, Ecuador's Maria Jose Vera, and Honduras' Yariela Garcia. Meanwhile, Thailand's Malin Chara-anan won the Country Power of the Year.

In another Facebook video, Thae said that she and her countrymen put a lot of effort for the two awards.

"The national costume, we all vote, the whole country put effort on that, and we vote together, rank 1, because we put a lot of effort into this national costume this year. And my performance, I did my best, so we just hope for the national costume, and another one is country power of the year," she said.

The 18-year-old beauty queen also addressed her controversial breakdown during the awarding ceremony, explaining that is because she felt sorry for the Burmese community who supported her all throughout the pageantry.

"I cried not because I didn't get the winner crown, not because I feel like I'm not deserving with the second runner-up, not because of all of those, just because of me, not only for me, all of my country, all of the people from my country, they all hope for this crown, and they all are fighting together," Thae said.

"The second reason I cried is, in that hall, a lot of Myanmar flags, over there, I can see from the stage, a lot of people are crying, a lot of my people are crying, my Burmese people are crying, how am I feeling? How can I stay happy with that crown? So I started crying, because I feel sorry for them, I feel sad for them, not because I didn't get the winner crown."

Thae's Facebook account is no longer available as of this writing, but her video statements have been posted by pageant fan pages.

—Jade Veronique Yap/MGP, GMA Integrated News