Claim: (from Miss Thailand’s Facebook post) Miss Thailand donned a dress made entirely out of soda can tabs as an homage to both of her parents who worked as garbage collectors, in honour of them both being dedicated citizens who did not shy away from hard labor in life – they both worked to collect refuse for recycling purposes! – at Miss Thailand 2014. For her performance at that pageant. [Rating].
Anna Sueangam-iam did not directly reference that her dress was designed as an homage to both of her parents’ work as garbage collectors when making an Instagram post, however. Instead she wrote that it was inspired by familiar surroundings of childhood before noting she grew up with garbage collector parents.
Facebook posts went viral in June 2024 claiming Miss Thailand wore a gown made out of soda can tabs as an homage to both of her parents, who worked as garbage collectors. “Her parents must have done an outstanding job raising her!” wrote one Facebook user.
The story was also widely disseminated on various social media platforms like Instagram, Pinterest and LinkedIn.
Miss Thailand did indeed wear a dress composed of soda can tabs at the Miss Universe preliminary competition in January 2023, though Anna Sueangam-iam did not explicitly refer to this choice of fabric as being “in honor of her parents who worked as garbage collectors,” instead stating it as having been inspired by childhood surroundings and later adding that both parents worked as garbage collectors – leading us to rate this claim as mostly true.
Sueangam-iam posted photos of her unique dress on her Instagram account @annasnga_1o on Jan 12, 2023 and provided details as to its details and design. We reached out to Sueangam-iam and will update this article once she replies to us.
Sueangam-iam lived among piles of trash and recyclables as a child living with garbage collector parents:
My Gown: My Personal Statement to the #Universe
This gown was inspired by my childhood surroundings of being raised by garbage collector parents; therefore being exposed to piles of rubbish and recyclables as I played outside in their yard every day. For my statement to the universe this unique gown was hand tailored-made with recycled and waste materials such as the Can Tab to prove how even what may seem useless holds value and beauty within itself.
Sueangam-iam’s dress was also featured on Miss Universe Thailand’s official Instagram account (@missuniverse.in.th).
According to her post, Anna was raised by “her garbage-collector father and street sweeper mother as well as an upstanding nun who served as Anna’s great-grandmother”:
“Don’t stay bound in to what was given you at birth; believe you can change for better!” The inspirational words by Anna Sueangam-iam, Miss Universe Thailand 2022, reflect her own self-defining significant characteristics perfectly.
Persistence, tenacity and optimism were integral in Anna’s rise to great success throughout life. No doubt attributed to being raised by an unconventional family – including father who collected garbage; street sweeper mother; and an extremely virtuous nun (Anna’s great-grandmother). Though Anna was once labeled by some as the garbage beauty queen – nothing stopped her from shining like the precious diamond she truly is!
From her inspiring life story comes this “Hidden Precious Diamond Dress”. Meticulously hand-made using aluminium drink can pull tabs and Swarovki components, “MANIRAT” created a striking upcycled garment which quickly gained attention on global stages.
Sueangam-iam’s bio on the Miss Universe Organization website states she grew up in a Bangkok slum before being sent to a temple for protection; there she survived by eating leftover food provided by monks while living among Buddhist nuns:
At an early age, poverty impacted her school experience in ways other children did not, particularly regarding tuition costs. To cover her tuition fees she needed to collect merit points every semester as well as donate blood every semester as well as collect plastic waste bottles and clean public restrooms – an experience which made her question the accessibility of Thai education systems to Thai children.
After facing this hurdle, Sueangam-iam resolved to represent all children from less privileged backgrounds by amplifying their voices. To do this, she collaborated with various nonprofit organizations so as to offer access to educational systems – she conducted the “Do it, Earn it” campaign; supported No Mixed Waste’s project No Mixed Waste project; participated in Saturday school project activities; as well as working closely with Smile Train Thailand.
This wasn’t our first investigation related to Thailand; for instance in April 2024 we looked at an online post which claimed Tilly Smith, then aged 10, had helped save many lives just prior to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that devastated Phuket island. Additionally we unpacked an urban legend alleging rocker Billy Idol was once subdued with tranquilizer dart by Thai police after partying for three weeks at his Bangkok hotel suite suite suite.
