A Thai man who worked in Israel and survived the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack told The Daily Wire he can identify the man seen in recently-released footage of injured hostages at Al Shifa hospital as his longtime roommate.
Mitchai Sarabon, recovering from injuries suffered in the attack, says the man shown on a stretcher with a bloodied hand is his roommate and colleague Phonsawan Pinakalo.
“We did everything together, from cooking and eating,” Sarabon told The Daily Wire through a translator. “I can recognize him even if he only had one leg shown in the video.”
The Israeli Defense Forces released a surveillance video reportedly showing two hostages being moved through the hospital on October 7. It was released as evidence that Hamas is operating inside the hospital, which has been under siege by the Israeli military because of the terrorist activity.
Critics have cast doubt on the footage, saying there is no evidence that the men seen in the videos are hostages. The IDF did not disclose the identity of the injured, though it did say that one was a Thai citizen.
Though his face is blurred in the security camera footage the IDF released, Sarabon says he recognizes Pinakalo, his roommate of nearly four years, by his body shape and the spotted shorts the man in the video is wearing. He provided a photo of Pinakalo that was posted to Facebook the day before the attack showing him wearing the same unique shorts that are visible in the footage.
<div id="attachment_657019" style="width: 252px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-657019" class="size-medium wp-image-657019" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/386361669_3531625373716810_4618130991883527388_n-242x300.jpg" alt="" width="242" height="300" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/386361669_3531625373716810_4618130991883527388_n-242x300.jpg 242w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/386361669_3531625373716810_4618130991883527388_n-465x576.jpg 465w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/386361669_3531625373716810_4618130991883527388_n.jpg 721w" sizes="(max-width: 242px) 100vw, 242px" />Phonsawan Pinakalo on Oct. 6 wearing shorts that his roommate says are the same shorts worn by a hostage taken by Hamas on Oct. 7. (Courtesy: Mitchai Sarabon)</div>
“That day we were all celebrating the day off and he wore the shorts late into the night before bed until the morning on October 7 before Hamas came,” he said.
The IDF says the footage is from between the hours of 10:42 a.m. and 11:01 a.m. on Oct. 7 and shows a Nepalese civilian and a Thai civilian who were abducted by Hamas.
&#8220;These findings prove that the Hamas terrorist organization used the Shifa Hospital complex on the day of the October 7 Massacre as terrorist infrastructure,&#8221; the IDF wrote.
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Breaking: the <a href="https://twitter.com/IDF?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@IDF</a> released cctv footage from the Shifa Hospital with an October 7th time stamp, documenting Hamas terrorists forcibly transporting hostages (a Nepalese civilian and a Thai civilian) through the hospital.
These findings prove that the Hamas terrorist organization… <a href="https://t.co/immopC5qyB">pic.twitter.com/immopC5qyB</a>
— Israel ישראל 🇮🇱 (@Israel) <a href="https://twitter.com/Israel/status/1726318944452034834?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 19, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Pinakalo’s Facebook page has not been updated since the attack.
The IDF declined to comment. The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office did not respond in time for publication.
Sarabon said he shared a room with Pinakalo at a compound on the edge of Kibbutz Alumim — 2.5 miles from the Gaza border — where they worked on an orange farm.
“We became friends since we both came to work in Israel,” said Sarabon. “He is a hard worker, and he is always kind. He was kind of a second in command of our group. He likes to make everybody happy, always laughing, smiling, and having fun. He loved to cook and was the kind of person that would always help someone who needed something.”
Sarabon says he thought his friend died that day, and now has &#8220;hope&#8221; that he is alive.
“I feel scared and now worry about my friend,” he said. “At first I thought he was killed that day, but after seeing the video I hope he is still alive and will return to his family.”
Critics of Israel&#8217;s war against Hamas have said there is no evidence that the terrorist group was operating out of the hospital, and argued that the injured men seen in the video weren&#8217;t actually hostages.
&#8220;These are just critically ill patients being moved, something that often happens in hospitals,&#8221; <a href="https://twitter.com/Haqiqatjou/status/1726328600297951565">said</a>, for example, Daniel Haqiqatjou, the founder of a Muslim educational organization. &#8220;Convenient of you to blur the faces so we can&#8217;t see that these are not Israelis at all.&#8221;
Sarabon, 32, is himself a survivor of the attack, suffering multiple gunshot wounds from Hamas terrorists, including one in his head. He spent 24 days recovering in an Israeli hospital before returning to Thailand. He said he is unable to use his arm properly and needs treatments every day at the hospital, at his own expense.
<div id="attachment_657017" style="width: 222px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-657017" class="size-medium wp-image-657017" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/IMG_2400-212x300.jpg" alt="" width="212" height="300" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/IMG_2400-212x300.jpg 212w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/IMG_2400-408x576.jpg 408w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/IMG_2400.jpg 589w" sizes="(max-width: 212px) 100vw, 212px" />32-year-old Mitchai Sarabon says he was shot multiple times by Hamas terrorist on the Oct. 7 attack. (Courtesy: Mitchai Sarabon)</div>
The two roommates are two just nearly 6,000 Thai nationals who were working in southern Israel before Hamas’s attack. Thirty-two citizens of Thailand were killed by terrorists, 19 were injured and 19 are believed to be held captive in Gaza, <a href="https://www.mfa.go.th/en/content/statement-29102023-2">according to the Thai Foreign Ministry</a>.

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EXCLUSIVE: Survivor Of Hamas Attack Identifies Hostage From Al Shifa Hospital Footage As His Roommate

Hamas

Israel

Thailand

Sixty-three Chinese <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/christianity" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Christians</a> who were facing expulsion back to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/china" target="_blank" rel="noopener">China</a> have been given shelter in the United States after being detained in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/thailand" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Thailand</a>.
The Christians are members of the Shenzhen Holy Reform Church, also known as the “Mayflower Church,” and left China due to religious persecution in November 2019. They had hoped to be granted refugee status in Thailand by the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/united-nations" target="_blank" rel="noopener">United Nations</a>, but instead they faced immigration-related charges. 
After negotiations with the State Department, Department of Homeland Security, and the U.N, Thailand agreed to let the U.S. take in the Christians, who hope to become permanent residents of the U.S. 
“ChinaAid welcomes the landing of the persecuted Chinese ‘Mayflower Church’ to freedom in America, and welcomes them to Texas,” ChinaAid Founder Bo Fu <a href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2023/04/05/us_steps_up_efforts_to_help_chinese_christians__149072.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a Friday statement, according to RealClearPolitics. “This is truly a Good Friday. Barely a week ago, members of the Mayflower Church were still incarcerated in a jail facing imminent danger of [Chinese Communist Party] kidnapping threats. Now they are safe and free.”
The group, led by Pastor Pan Yongguang, a minister ordained by the Presbyterian Church of America (PCA), landed at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport on Friday. It had been a tumultuous three years for the group, who initially had attempted to stay in South Korea before moving to Thailand. 
&#8220;This is a successful example of nonpartisan, international cooperation,&#8221; ChinaAid CEO Chad Bullard <a href="https://www.christianpost.com/news/chinas-mayflower-church-members-resettled-in-us-after-3-years.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. &#8220;We are thankful to all parties including various U.S. government agencies, particularly the State Department&#8217;s International Religious Freedom Office led by Ambassador Rashad Hussain, the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok, USCIRF, and a number of congressional offices including Chairman Mike McCaul and Chairman Chris Smith.&#8221; 
<a href="https://onelink.to/dwapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" aria-describedby="sk-tooltip-9096" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://onelink.to/dwapp&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1680979691116000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1YsafKPYyojrpCvxkZWlCU">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP</a>
Smith, a New Jersey Republican who is chairman of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, was pleased with the news. “It is a very Good Friday indeed, and a perfect Easter gift to see these persecuted Chinese Christians arrive and be allowed to practice their faith freely in the United States,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Had they been forcibly repatriated to China, they would have been jailed and severely persecuted.&#8221;
Other lawmakers who asked the State Department to intervene on behalf of the Chinese Christians included Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL). 
“I was proud to assist in the effort to get them to safety alongside many others, including Ambassador Godec and the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok, the State Department’s legislative team, key members of Congress, the Royal Thai Government, and Ambassador Tanee and the Royal Thai Embassy,&#8221; Cruz said in a statement. &#8220;I am especially grateful for ChinaAid and Freedom Seekers International, and for the people of Tyler, Texas who have welcomed the congregation into their homes. Because of their generosity and diligence, the Mayflower Church can now share in the freedoms that we enjoy every day in America.”

CHINA-VATICAN-DIPLOMACY-RELIGION-RIGHTS

63 Chinese Christians Find Refuge In America On Good Friday After Fleeing Persecution

China

Christians

Persecution

Religion

Texas

United Nations

World

The Thai teenager who was rescued from a flooded cave in the country died Tuesday.
Duangphet &#8220;Dom&#8221; Promthep was one of 13 individuals rescued from the Tham Luang Cave in Chiang Rai Province, Thailand, in July 2018. The story of the twelve players and their assistant coach drew international headlines at the time. Promthep was living in England since last year, having won a scholarship to play soccer at Brooke House College Football Academy in Leicestershire, England.
“We are waiting for his body to return,” Promthep&#8217;s mother Thanaporn said at a virtual news conference in the northern Thailand town of Mae Sai, via The New York Times.
Leicestershire Police said via NYT that they had been called to the school on Sunday afternoon, and that a 17 year-old boy had died in a hospital. Kiatisuk Senamuang, the founder of the foundation which helped secure Promthep’s scholarship, said Wednesday that a teacher found Promthep unconscious in his dorm room. A spokesperson for East Midlands Ambulance Service added to the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-64646039" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BBC</a> that he had been taken to Kettering General Hospital. Police said his death was not being treated as suspicious. The BBC noted that reports in Thailand have claimed that he had suffered a head injury.
Tributes poured in from friends and community members.
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Brooke House College Football Academy Principal Ian Smith said that the school was &#8220;deeply saddened and shaken&#8221; by the young footballer&#8217;s death. &#8220;We unite in grief with all of Dom&#8217;s family, friends, former teammates and those involved in all parts of his life, as well as everyone affected in any way by this loss in Thailand and throughout the college&#8217;s global family,&#8221; he said in a statement, via the BBC.
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“When we met last time before you left for England, I still jokingly said to you that I have to get your autograph when you come back,” mourned Prachak Sutham, one of Promthep&#8217;s teammates from the &#8220;Wild Boars&#8221; junior soccer team who was also rescued from the cave. “Rest in peace my friend, there will always be 13 of us.”
“You are one of the persons who pushes me and makes me want to develop myself to your level,” Chanin Viboonrungruang, another teammate, added. “If next life is real, I wish we will play football together as a team again.”
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&#8220;The soul of Dom Duangphet Promthep has gone to a better world,&#8221; <a href="https://www.facebook.com/jobmoda/posts/pfbid0UhURLy1bNep3REE8DCKkMFujhh4Ug8k2XidLkTpy8VdqHeXAVUgLXnFwYmDf8UU4l" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Supatpong Methigo</a>, a Buddhist monk and schoolteacher who taught Promthep when he lived in Thailand, wrote on Facebook. &#8220;I hope that the dharma who has taught you will accompany you everywhere. And in my next life, I would like you to be my disciple again.&#8221;
Promthep was 13 years old, and captain of the Wild Boars, when he and his teammates were rescued from Tham Luang Cave. The team and one assistant coach went to explore the cave on June 23, 2018, but monsoon rainfalls filled the cave entrance and forced them deeper into the cave to avoid drowning. Thai Navy SEALs were originally dispatched to attempt a rescue, followed by British cave rescue divers, a U.S. Air Force rescue squadron, Australian federal police divers, and Chinese divers.
The boys were discovered on July 2, on a rock shelf some 2.5 miles from the mouth of the cave. All 12 players and the coach were rescued by July 10. However, one of the rescuers, Saman Kunan, died during the operation. Another member of the operation, Thai Navy SEAL Beirut Pakbara, died in 2019 of a blood infection he sustained during the rescue.
Promthep was awarded a scholarship to Brooke House College Football Academy in August. “Today my dream has come true,” he said on Instagram at the time, via NYT. “I promise I will focus and do my best,” he said.
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Duangphet &#8220;Dom&#8221; Promthep was 17.
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Duangpetch Promthep (Dom) (C) Captain of Wild Boar youth

Thai Soccer Player At The Center Of International Headlines From 2018 Rescue Dies At 17

Thai Soccer Player At The Center Of International Headlines From 2018 Rescue, Dies At 17

Children

General

Rescue

When we think of serial killers, we think of Ted Bundy, or Jeffrey Dahmer, or John Wayne Gacy — all Americans. 
Rarely do we think about serial killers who operated in other countries, like Charles Sobhraj.
He was convicted of killing 12 people, but is suspected of killing as many as 30 across multiple countries. He may not be as prolific as Bundy or Dahmer, but he is every bit as terrifying.
Sobhraj was born in Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City), Vietnam, in 1944. His father reportedly denied his paternity, and Sobhraj was raised by his mother and her new husband, though Sobhraj felt neglected once the couple had additional children. Sobhraj began committing crimes as a teenager, receiving a sentence for burglary in 1963. While in prison, he manipulated the guards into giving him special privileges, including keeping books in his cell.
He continued to commit burglaries and scams once he was released, as well as stealing cars and using fake documents to travel through Europe with his pregnant fiancé, Chantal Compagnon. The coupled robbed tourists after befriending them. Sobhraj had begun amassing wealth through his crimes but developed a gambling addiction.
Sobhraj was arrested in India in 1973 after a failed robbery attempt, but escaped from prison with the help of Compagnon. He was quickly apprehended, but the couple posted bail and fled to Kabul, where they once again began robbing tourists. The couple was arrested again but, yet again, Sobhraj escaped, this time fleeing to Iran. Compagnon returned to France in an attempt to forget her criminal past.
Sobhraj spent the next two years on the run, traveling through Eastern Europe and the Middle East, and, along with his younger half-brother, committing crimes in Turkey and Greece and eventually being arrested in Athens. Sobhraj once again escaped, but his younger brother was sentenced to 18 years in prison.
While on the run, Sobhraj ran scams to make money, such as helping two former French policemen recover passports that Sobhraj had stolen himself.
Sobhraj reportedly committed his first known murder in 1975 with the help of an accomplice, Ajay Chowdhury, who was known as the serial killer’s second-in-command. The first victims reportedly recruited the pair to help them commit crimes, but later threatened to expose Sobhraj for his crimes, leading him to kill them. The first known victim was Teresa Knowlton, a young woman from Seattle, Washington, who had been drowned in a tidal pool in the Gulf of Thailand. Her death was originally believed to be an accident, but months later, her post-mortem and other evidence showed she had been intentionally drowned.
Next, Sobhraj and Chowdhury killed a young Turkish Sephardic Jew named Vitali Hakim, whom they burned. They then killed Dutch student Henk Bintanja and his fiancée Cocky Hemker, who were both poisoned, strangled, and burned in Thailand.
During this time, Sobhraj built up a cult following, and, joined by his most devoted follower, Marie-Andree Leclerc, entered Nepal using the Dutch student’s passports. There they murdered American Connie Jo Bronzich and her Canadian friend Laurent Carriere.
Next, Sobhraj traveled to Calcutta and murdered Israeli scholar Avoni Jacob. Sobhraj then used Jacob’s passport to travel with Leclerc and Chowdhury to Singapore, then India, and on to Bangkok.
During this time, police were closing in on the group, and Dutch authorities were closing in on those who killed Bintanja and Hemker. Investigators searched Sobhraj’s apartment a month after he left the country, and found the victims’ passports, poisons, and syringes.
In 1976, Interpol issued an arrest warrant for Sobhraj for the four murders committed in Thailand – Knowlton, Hakim, Bintaja, and Hemker.
Even with the arrest warrant, Sobhraj and his crew continued to travel and kill. He and new followers killed Frenchman Jean-Luc Solomon in Bombay. They then poisoned a tour group of French post-graduate students in New Delhi. Three of the poisoned students figured out what was happening and took down Sobhraj. He was detained by police and spent the next 20 years in an Indian prison. During his imprisonment in India, he escaped briefly after drugging several prison guards, later claiming he did so to extend his sentence and avoid extradition to Thailand, where he was wanted for additional murders.
On February 17, 1997, Sobhraj, now 52, was released and allowed to return to France, since the warrants and evidence against him for his other crimes had been lost.
In France, Sobhraj raked in the cash by selling the rights to his life for a film and charging for interviews and photographs. In 2003, he returned to Nepal, where he was still wanted for multiple murders. A journalist saw him at a casino and wrote an article about him, which was seen by police, who raided the casino and arrested Sobhraj.
On August 20, 2004, Sobhraj was sentenced to life in prison for the 1975 murder of Bronzich. Sobhraj appealed the decision and lost, and on September 18, 2014, he was convicted of murdering Bronzich’s friend, Carriere. He was sentenced to another 20 years in prison.
By 2018, Sobhraj was in failing health and had received multiple open-heart surgeries.
A court ruling on December 21, 2022, ordered Sobhraj to be returned to France within 15 days, following a petition from his legal team arguing he should be released due to good behavior and his advanced age. The concession was granted thanks to a Nepalese law that allows inmates who have served at least 75% of their sentence with good behavior to be released.
“Keeping him in the prison continuously is not in line with the prisoner’s human rights,” the ruling said, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-64050714" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to the BBC</a>.
On December 23, 2022, Charles Sobhraj walked out of prison and was deported to France. He is not allowed to return to Nepal for at least 10 years.

NEPAL-FRANCE-THAILAND-CRIME-HOMICIDE

He Killed More People Than The Zodiac Killer. He Was Just Released From Prison.

Nepal

Readers Pass

Serial Killers

True Crime

A Buddhist temple in Thailand has been left without any monks after they tested positive for drugs and were defrocked, according to AFP.
The four monks serving at a temple in the central Thai province of Phetchabun tested positive for methamphetamine on Monday, district official Boonlert Thintapthai told the outlet.
&#8220;The temple is now empty of monks and nearby villagers are concerned they cannot do any merit-making,&#8221; he <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20221129-bad-abbot-thai-temple-left-empty-after-monks-fail-drug-tests" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
Merit-making is the Buddhist practice of followers donating food to monks as a good deed, the report noted.
The disgraced monks have been sent to drug rehabilitation, the report added. New monks will be sent to the temple to continue its operation in the days ahead, Boonlert said.
Another Thai monk named Phra Annipalo, 34, was <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/11/29/thai-monks-in-rehab-after-testing-positive-for-meth/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">arrested</a> earlier this month on drug charges after allegedly carjacking two vehicles and fleeing from police.
Last month, Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/10/thai-pm-announces-crackdown-on-drugs-in-wake-of-nursery-attack">spoke out</a> regarding drug use in the country after a former police officer who was dismissed over methamphetamine possession killed 37 people during a shooting at a nursery.
At least 23 children were among those killed in the rampage. Some victims were as young as two. The former officer later took his own life.
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&#8220;After inspecting the crime scene, we found that the perpetrator tried to break in and he mainly used a knife to commit the crime by killing a number of small children,&#8221; said Police Chief Damrongsak Kittiprapat, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-63155169" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to</a> the BBC.
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The prime minister &#8220;ordered provincial governors to strengthen drug prevention plans to tackle problems in their areas,” a government spokesperson <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/10/thai-pm-announces-crackdown-on-drugs-in-wake-of-nursery-attack">said</a> in a statement after the attack.
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Thailand is a major crossroads for methamphetamine trafficking from the Golden Triangle, which encompasses Myanmar, Laos, and northern Thailand, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
“Criminal organizations have adapted and innovated, and it is impossible for countries to address transnational crime alone.” UNODC Regional Representative Jeremy Douglas <a href="https://www.unodc.org/roseap/2022/05/thailand-high-level-national-border-management-dialogue/story.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in May.
“In the last two years, methamphetamine seizures in Southeast Asia have increased from 140 tons to close to 170 tons, and this trend is continuing &#8212; instability in the Golden Triangle and Shan State are contributing, and Thailand and Lao PDR need support for border control,&#8221; he added.
More than one billion methamphetamine tablets were <a href="https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/frontpage/2022/June/unodc-report_-over-one-billion-methamphetamine-tablets-seized-in-east-and-southeast-asia-in-2021-as-the-regional-drug-trade-continues-to-expand.html">seized</a> in East and Southeast Asia in 2021, according to the agency, totaling 172 tons of the addictive substance.
&#8220;The total is seven times higher than it was 10 years ago, when just more than 143 million tablets were seized, and over thirty-five times higher than it was close to 20 years ago,&#8221; UNODC stated in a June report.

monks

Thai Temple Left Without Monks After They All Test Positive For Meth

Thai Buddhist Temple Left Without Monks After They All Test Positive For Meth

Drugs

Methamphetamine

In the wake of a scandal in which various Miss USA contestants alleged that the 2022 Miss USA pageant was rigged in favor of Miss Texas, the Miss Universe organization, which suspended the organizers of the Miss USA pageant, was bought by a <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11355919/Thai-businesswoman-buys-Miss-Universe-pageant-20-mln.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">transgender person</a> from Thailand.
Anne Jakkaphong Jakrajutatip, CEO and biggest shareholder of JKN Global Group Public Company Limited, bought the Miss Universe organization for $20 million from Endeavor&#8217;s IMG. The Miss Universe pageant, originated in 1952, had <a href="https://variety.com/2022/biz/global/miss-universe-endeavor-img-jkn-thailand-1235414757/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">previously been owned</a> by Donald Trump starting in 1996 along with CBS and then NBC before it was sold to IMG in 2015.
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Thai businesswoman and transgender advocate Anne Jakkaphong Jakrajutatip bought the Miss Universe Organization for $20 million, making her the first woman to own the global beauty pageant in its 71-year history, her company announced Oct. 26. <a href="https://t.co/p9nlfdCRmR">https://t.co/p9nlfdCRmR</a>
&mdash; TODAY (@TODAYshow) <a href="https://twitter.com/TODAYshow/status/1585652637277511682?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 27, 2022</a></blockquote>
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“We are incredibly honored to be acquiring the Miss Universe organization and working with its visionary leadership team,” Jakrajutatip, who became a reality TV star on Thai versions of “Project Runway” and “Shark Tank,” <a href="https://variety.com/2022/biz/global/miss-universe-endeavor-img-jkn-thailand-1235414757/">declared</a>. “The global reach of the organization, its relationships with global partners and brands, and its wealth of content, licensing, and merchandising opportunities make this a strong, strategic addition to our portfolio. We seek not only to continue its legacy of providing a platform to passionate individuals from diverse backgrounds, cultures, and traditions, but also to evolve the brand for the next generation.”
“Jakrajutatip will become the first woman to own Miss Universe, the organization confirmed to Insider,” Business Insider <a href="https://www.insider.com/miss-universe-pageant-sold-to-businesswoman-2022-10" target="_blank" rel="noopener">claimed</a>. According to the <a href="https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2286822/a-pioneer-reveals-clues-to-success" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bangkok Post,</a> Jakrajutatip is the third richest transgender person in the world, worth roughly $210 million.
Recently, Miss Universe <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11334377/EXCL-Miss-Universe-SUSPENDS-Miss-USA-organizers-amid-claims-winner-crowned-unfairly.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">suspended the organizers of Miss USA</a> after a furor erupted following the annual Miss USA pageant.
Contestants in the 2022 Miss USA pageant received an email from Miss Universe CEO Amy Emmerich informing them that Miss Brand, which runs the pageant, has been suspended from the pageant.
“After thorough deliberation, Miss Universe Organization has decided to suspend Miss Brand immediately,” Emmerich wrote. “Miss Universe will be taking over the Miss USA program while a comprehensive third-party investigation is conducted.”
“We are appreciative of the cooperation we&#8217;ve seen from Miss USA Director Crystle Stewart as we work through this process,” Emmerich added.
Stewart, the director of Miss Brand and the winner of Miss USA in 2008 before starting to run the pageant in 2020, had come under fire after contestants alleged that the pageant favored the eventual winner, Miss Texas, R&#8217;Bonney Gabriel. After Gabriel’s victory was announced and she walked around the stage, other contestants, in an unprecedented move, walked off the stage.
“You can see them exiting the stage before she even turns around. All of them. Not one of them stays on stage to congratulate her or run and hug her,” former contestant Jasmine Jones <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@callmejas0/video/7150795496850804014?is_copy_url=1&amp;is_from_webapp=v1&amp;item_id=7150795496850804014" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stated</a> in a TikTok video. “In my pageantry opinion, something was off about that. In my ten years as a contestant, I’ve never seen the girls walk off stage and not congratulate the girls that’s won.”
“I am at a loss of words since it goes to show there were many signs that the winner was already predetermined and myself, amongst all my other sisters, weren’t even given the chance to lose,” Alexandra Lakhman, Miss New Jersey wrote.
Miss New York, Heather Elley, added, “The way I entered this pageant and gave it every last bit of my heart and soul. I had limiting beliefs of the outcome and did everything to ignore ALL the signs,” Yahoo News <a href="https://ph.news.yahoo.com/miss-usa-contestants-allege-pageant-rigged-favor-fil-am-queen-052929011.html?guccounter=1&amp;guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&amp;guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAJ2wN-GC-LvteCbAy2M2Qon46MRKHocdjk0TO21ISZT8Kwj07maxqoXu_Kn_rOBXxYy5a2YgubHI3BkctXemKnJLhgwmLIX6N_sE2kGl6C-HNaLb_Mx-KtRxTflH7FXCKRM64l77bztTFSnXbEpmZaAE5IC7k9m6MCmaIs2xx4M5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
Miss Missouri, Mikala McGhee, claimed Gabriel’s victory had been preordained because she is a Filipina-American, and the Filipina community has a large pageant fanbase.
“I think that [Miss USA] are in a state where they are trying to revamp and re-glamorize pageantry here in the United States, because we&#8217;ve been seeing a constant drop off in enrollment for pageants, and not just in the Miss USA system,” she said.
“Not to say that Gabriel couldn&#8217;t have gone out here and won this on her own, but I think that she was a Houstonian — everyone, again, from the Miss Brand &#8230; and most from Miss USA Organization, including Crystle herself, are from Houston. They&#8217;re Houston natives,” McGhee continued.