Miss Thailand wore a dress made from soda can tabs in homage to her parents, who worked as garbage collectors.
Anna Sueangam-iam did not explicitly state that the dress was “a tribute to her parents who worked as garbage collectors.” However, in an Instagram post, she wrote that her dress was inspired by her familiar childhood surroundings and later added that she grew up with parents who were garbage collectors.
In June 2024, the messageswent A video has gone viral on Facebook claiming that Miss Thailand wore a dress made from soda can tabs in tribute to her parents, who worked as garbage collectors. “Her parents obviously did a great job raising her,” one Facebook user commented.
The story was also shared on other social media platforms, such as Instagram, PinterestAnd LinkedIn.
It is true that Miss Thailand wore a dress made of soda can tabs at the Miss Universe preliminary competition in January 2023. While Anna Sueangam-iam did not explicitly state that the dress was “an homage to her parents who worked as garbage collectors,” she wrote in an Instagram post that she was inspired by her familiar childhood surroundings and later added that she grew up with parents who were garbage collectors. For this reason, we rated this statement as “mostly true.”
We have contacted Sueangam-iam and will update this article if and when we receive a response.
I'm already dreaming sharing photographs of her unique dress on her Instagram account @annasnga_1o, January 12, 2023.
The caption of the post noted that having grown up with parents who were garbage collectors, Sueangam-iam lived among piles of trash and recyclables as a child:
My Dress – My Personal Statement to the #Universe
This dress was inspired by my familiar childhood surroundings. Growing up with garbage collector parents, my childhood life was spent surrounded by piles of trash and recyclables. This unique dress was specially custom-made from discarded and recycled materials, namely the “Can Tab” to show the UNIVERSE that what is considered worthless by many actually has its own value and beauty.
Thank you all for seeing it, hearing it, and hopefully being that message of self-esteem.
An official Instagram account of Miss Universe Thailand, @missuniverse.in.th, also sharing photographs of Sueangam-iam's dress.
The message said she had been raised by a “garbage collector father, a street sweeper mother and a virtuous nun who was Anna's great-grandmother”:
“You should not remain stuck in the troubled environment you were born into, but believe that you have the power to change your own life for the better,” the inspiring quote of “Anna Sueangam-iam”, Miss Universe Thailand 2022, accurately reflects and defines her own significant characteristic.
Her perseverance, tenacity and optimism have allowed her to succeed in life. This is the result of an education by a garbage collector father, a street sweeper mother and a virtuous nun who was Anna's great-grandmother. Although she is nicknamed by some “the beauty queen of garbage collectors”, this does not prevent her from shining like a precious jewel.
From her personal story, the message is conveyed through this “Hidden Precious Diamond Dress”. Meticulously created from used aluminum tabs of beverage cans and Swarovski, this unique recycled dress designed by “MANIRAT” is the most prompt to be found on the international scene.
Biography of Sueangam-iamshared on the Miss Universe Organization's website, said she grew up in a Bangkok slum and was later sent to a temple for safety, where she survived on monks' leftover food while living among Buddhist nuns:
From a young age, poverty set her school life apart from other children, especially the cost of school fees. To cover her school fees, she had to collect merit points, donate blood every semester, collect plastic bottles and clean public toilets. This experience led her to question the accessibility of education for Thai children.
After overcoming this challenge, Sueangam-iam wants to represent all children from disadvantaged backgrounds and amplify their voices. She uses her stronger voice to collaborate with many non-profit organizations to provide children with access to education systems. She led the “Do it, Earn it” campaign, supports the No Mixed Waste project, participates in a Saturday school project, and works with Smile Train Thailand.
This wasn’t the first time we’d investigated a story related to Thailand. For example, in April 2024, we looked at a story claiming that the quick thinking of a 10-year-old English girl, Tilly Smith, helped save 100 lives just before the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami hit the island of Phuket. We also debunked a rumour that rock star Billy Idol had to be subdued by Thai police with a tranquilliser dart after partying for three weeks in a Bangkok hotel suite.
