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SCMP Reporter

The Miss Thailand 1999 title - a hotly followed national honour - is proving something of a curse for its present holder, Dr Apisamai Srirangsan.

 First she had to live down having her beauty compared with the transsexual winner of the Miss Tiffany katoey contest.

 The competitions were held and televised on the same day for the first time in March and the new Miss Thailand was not always discussed favourably amid the confusion.

 Now she faces sneers from more senior colleagues in the medical profession in a boiling debate that threatens to shatter the myths surrounding the famed tolerance of the Thais and their obsession with physical attractiveness.

 Put simply, Dr Apisamai is at risk of being forced to choose between her profession - psychiatry - and her title.

 Far from lauding her for being a working woman, a string of leading doctors and medical academics have lined up to publicly criticise her.

 Comments first published in the newsletter of the Psychiatric Association warning of 'erotomania' and dangerous 'self-obsession' have spread widely and the shrinks appear nothing if not prudish.

 'It is totally inappropriate for a doctor to contest a beauty pageant wearing a revealing swimsuit,' said Dr Supattana Dechatiwong Na Ayutthaya, adviser to the association.

 'Such a practice is taboo for those who want to be psychotherapists.'  Dr Vira Kheungsrikul, of King Mongkut's Hospital, said other types of medical professionals could enter such contests, but not a psychiatrist.

 'Patients' perceptions of her as a beauty queen can negatively affect their therapy. Male patients could have sexual fantasies about the therapist after they see her in a revealing swimsuit during the contest,' he said.

 Covering the debate in extended detail, the Thai press has alluded to double-standards among the elite.

 'What about the 'godfathers' in the Cabinet, alcoholic teachers or lustful monks?' the Nation newspaper asked.

 'Did they receive the same type of scrutiny before assuming their titles or careers?'   Similar questions are being asked on the streets.

 'What is wrong with a proud and beautiful doctor,' asked one young clerk.

 'I see nothing anywhere in our constitution that doctors have to be ugly and plain.'  So far, Dr Apisamai is staying silent. She has been kept busy with a string of modelling and promotional jobs and the photos are doing the talking.



Medical profession's debate over beauty queen turns ugly