Beauty queen sacked as mental health ambassador

The Department of Mental Health has revoked its recent appointment of the Miss Universe Thailand 2020 as its mental health ambassador.

The department’s Facebook page on Tuesday posted a press release on the dismissal of beauty queen Amanda Obdam as its mental health ambassador with immediate effect.

According to the document, the department was aware of people’s concerns about the role assigned to the beauty queen.

The briefing quoted director-general Dr Panpimol Wipulakorn as saying it could not do anything that might cause conflicts and concerns in the Thai society.

She denied the Feb 25 appointment of the mental health ambassador was a favour to anyone. She said the ambassador only assisted in promoting mental health, encouraging people to be good listeners and raising public awareness on mental health problems in the country.

Earlier, the department had an agreement with the organisers of the Miss Universe Thailand 2020 beauty pageant so the winner would be its mental health ambassador.

A Thai-Canadian model from Phuket, Miss Obdam, 28, won her title on Oct 10 last year. On Oct 16 she posted a message in social media expressing her disapproval of all forms of violence against people. On that day, authorities dispersed anti-government demonstrators in Bangkok.