Beauty Pageant Director Presses On Despite Serious Illness

Dr. Sirikarn Unsongkran, president and rights holder of Miss Earth Thailand and Mister Earth Thailand, held a press conference for this year's pageant and acknowledged that she had to remove her IV line to attend. She recently recovered from a critical illness that pushed her into a coma-like state and requires ongoing treatment with up to 20 injections. Despite these challenges, she affirmed her determination to proceed, saying her heart remains fully committed to giving the current title holders an honorable farewell.

When asked about the extent of her preparation despite her illness, she replied: "I've removed my IV line to hold this pageant. Once it's finished, I'll go back and have the IV reinserted—that's fine. My duty is to ensure there are no more patients added to this world. I want to be the last patient on Earth. Everything stems from food, air, eating habits, and lifestyle. We must use our free time productively and exercise, but things aren't balanced. There are problems in agriculture, industry, and our environment has suffered. What I can do is ensure our future generations have good health, which is why we must hold the Miss Earth pageant. We need to find people to help save our world."

When pressed on whether her illness would affect the pageant, she acknowledged it might have some impact, as she must continue receiving medication and further injections. However, she expressed her strong desire to win the major crown for Thailand, as the pageant has produced Fire crowns for three years now and it's time to bring home the Earth crown.

She noted that while juggling work and illness is difficult, sponsors—both loyal ones and new ones—continue to support the mission. She expressed gratitude that they understand her core objective: to find beautiful women and men who possess good physical and mental health and who are givers rather than takers.

When asked if she had considered not holding the pageant this year due to her illness, she revealed that she originally planned to simply select delegates to send abroad instead. However, the current title holders—five men and five women—needed a proper and dignified farewell ceremony, especially since the men's group was the first-ever cohort and the women performed their duties excellently the previous year. She felt obligated to organize the event so they could step down with honor.

Asked if she had ever felt discouraged, she admitted she had grown disheartened, particularly in the early stages of her illness when her body wasn't responding well to treatment. She suffered from drug allergies, rashes, jaundice, poor appetite, and insomnia—a severe decline in quality of life. She struggled with the idea of asking others to dedicate themselves to the pageant while she couldn't fully commit in return.