24 May 1988
Porntip wins Miss Universe crown in Taipei
Nineteen-year-old Porntip Narkhirunkanok was crowned Miss Universe 1988 in Taiwan.
‘I’m so happy, not for myself but for Thailand,’ she said. Asked how she could represent Thailand, having lived from a very young age in the US, Porntip replied she was ‘Thai throughout.’
The second Miss Thailand to win the title, after Apasra Hongsakula in 1965, Porntip received $250,000, a Maserati sports car, a mink coat, a diamond necklace, and a diamond-studded watch. From Taipei she flew to Los Angeles before embarking on a hectic year of globe-trotting and promotional work for the pageant’s sponsors.
Returning to Thailand on August 23, Porntip brought Bangkok to a virtual standstill as tens of thousands came to catch a glimpse of her motorcade as it returned from a meeting with recently appointed Prime Minister Chatichai Choonhavan. In other parts of the city, pedestrians crowded outside television shops to watch the spectacle on TV. Eventually Porntip married billionaire Herb Simon in 2002 and made the US her home for good.
24 May 1988
Porntip wins Miss Universe crown in Taipei
Nineteen-year-old Porntip Narkhirunkanok was crowned Miss Universe 1988 in Taiwan.
‘I’m so happy, not for myself but for Thailand,’ she said. Asked how she could represent Thailand, having lived from a very young age in the US, Porntip replied she was ‘Thai throughout.’
The second Miss Thailand to win the title, after Apasra Hongsakula in 1965, Porntip received $250,000, a Maserati sports car, a mink coat, a diamond necklace, and a diamond-studded watch. From Taipei she flew to Los Angeles before embarking on a hectic year of globe-trotting and promotional work for the pageant’s sponsors.
Returning to Thailand on August 23, Porntip brought Bangkok to a virtual standstill as tens of thousands came to catch a glimpse of her motorcade as it returned from a meeting with recently appointed Prime Minister Chatichai Choonhavan. In other parts of the city, pedestrians crowded outside television shops to watch the spectacle on TV. Eventually Porntip married billionaire Herb Simon in 2002 and made the US her home for good.