Bt3.2 billion for Thais?

For the women who have come to Bangkok from around the world to compete for the title of Miss Universe, the reward is global fame. But for Thailand, the competition represents a chance to earn an estimated Bt3.2 billion.

For the women who have come to Bangkok from around the world to compete for the title of Miss Universe, the reward is global fame. But for Thailand, the competition represents a chance to earn the nation an estimated Bt3.2 billion.

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It is not often that the Thai cabinet meetings begin with a visit by some of the most beautiful women in the world, but this is what happened Tuesday morning, when Tourism and Sports Minister Somsak Thepsuthin led 17 Miss Universe contestants to conduct a photo session with Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, now the proud owner of golfing gear bearing the Miss Universe brand.

Speaking to reporters after the event, Mr. Somsak said that hosting the competition was extremely lucrative for Thailand, as it had spent only Bt265 million on helping organise the event, but would earn around Bt3.2 billion.

The contest, to be held over the coming weeks, is seen by the government as a perfect opportunity to publicise Thailand as a top-class tourism destination to over 800 million viewers across the globe.

"This is the first time that the Miss Universe company has agreed to allow the Miss Universe contestants to take part in publicity advertising for free", Mr. Somsak noted, adding that the organizers of the contest were keen to help Thailand recover from the December tsunami.

On May 19 the contestants are scheduled to travel to the country's southern resort island of Phuket, an opportunity which the government is seizing on as a means to show the world that the kingdom's Andaman region has already largely recovered from the tsunami on December 26 last year.