MISS THAILAND EARTH 2010 - Watsoporn Wattanakoon

PERSONAL PARTICULARS

BIOGRAPHY:

Watsaporn Wattanakoon (Thai: วรรษพร วัฒนากุล), nicknamed Eiam (Thai: เอี๊ยม) (born October 15, 1987 in Chiang Rai) 22, is a beauty queen from Thailand. She joined the Miss Thailand Universe 2010; she won first runner-up and was also crowned Miss Thailand Earth on March 20, 2010 in Bangkok, Thailand. She is currently studying Communication Arts and standing 170 cm. She represented Thailand in Miss Earth 2010 beauty pageant on November at Vietnam.

Fontip Watcharatrakul bagged the Miss Thailand Universe 2010 crown and gave her the opportunity to compete in Miss Universe 2010. And landed in the Runner-up spot, Wilasinee Gallayalert, Pimpawan Bunjongsiri and Punnara Phoomchareon.

INTERVIEW:

My parents were teachers and they taught me not to be afraid of failure. They taught me that failure is a stepping-stone to success. As long as I face any problem with care and without fear, look at both sides of the matter consciously and concentrate in solving it, I will be successful in any undertaking.

Describe your childhood when you were growing up from 8 to 13 years old.

I am the youngest daughter of both teacher parents with two older sisters and our ages are very far apart- 14 and 10 years. I grew up in Chiangrai, the northern part of Thailand, before I moved to the capital city- Bangkok- to study. Even though Chiangrai is so far away from the capital, it's not an under-developed city. Civilization has been located in this suburb town long time ago. However, civilization can never replace the beauty of the nature which is the original owner. Still, moonlight and electricity light can both shine on the landscape balancing the urban concrete jungle with a real Thailand jungle. This 'Balance' is relevant to what my parents have taught me to look at everything from both sides. I'm not a pessimistic person but I do not forget to see things in both a good and bad way and it makes me a careful and reasonable person.

What lessons did you learn from your childhood/growing years?

The most important lesson I learned from my childhood is to conquer my own fear. Since I was a child, I am always afraid to initiate things. This fear might be caused from my pessimistic way of thinking. Not many people know that I have this thought since I have done so many things and activities with confidence and I have never failed. But you know what?! What you see is absolutely a contrast from my inner feeling.

I was always worried to initiate things because everyone expects me to do it. However, these expectations became the pressure that pushed me to be confident and to conquer those fears. As a result, I always push myself to be perfect. Even though my initial fear and the expectation in me are contrasting, I have learned that when these factors are put together, it pushes me toward success.

What is your most memorable moment?

The story I am about to tell may sound a little funny but I have seen it with my own eyes . It's for real and I'm never going to forget it.

That memorable moment happened when I saw a herd of elephants eating soil in the jungle.

I was so surprised because I don't think soil is the thing that creatures eat. But the elephant did!!!! Later, I asked the guide and found out that what the elephants actually eat is called 'Salt lick'- the soil which contains a lot of minerals and nutrients, which is important to other wild animals too. I know now that elephants also help smaller creatures by digging the hard top soil with their ivories to ease the access of smaller animals to get to the food. This moment impressed upon me the importance of the animal kingdom, even more so with animals helping each other. I do hope that this would also happen to human beings. I don't mean that I want to see people eating soil but seeing people helping each other without looking for anything in return is what I mean.

What is your environmental advocacy?

I believe that the common issues throughout the world is an over-consumption of resources. Humans consume natural resources a lot more than necessary with regards to the current global crisis. I believe that the most classical way to solve these problems is a "back to basic" approach.

In the past, our ancestors lived their life very close to the nature and were friends of the environment.

One way that we can do to get back to the basics is to start doing 'Sufficient economy' as the King Bhumbol Adulyadej of Thailand has said.

This policy would benefit very well Thailand's developing agricultural country. "Use no more than what we need". This policy could benefit not only Thailand but also the world. It could be applied to our daily activities to reduce our consumption and to save energy, such as water, electricity, and fuel. The question still remains "are you willing to make the difference?" I am.


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