Miss Universe Universe 2020 with Dutch blood
Miss Universe last year (Jade ThaiCatwalk / Shutterstock.com)
You may have seen it on television in Thailand or read it elsewhere, that Chalisa Amanda Obdam, a 27-year-old Thai-Canadian model from Phuket, was crowned Miss Universe Thailand 2020 last Saturday.
To be honest, I wouldn't have paid any attention to it, but her surname Obdam intrigued me, would she have Dutch ancestors? After all, Obdam is a purely Dutch name, named after the North Holland town of Obdam, near my last place of residence in the Netherlands, Alkmaar.
So do some research on the internet. It turns out that Amanda has a Dutch-Canadian father and a Chinese-Thai mother. So Amanda is at least a so-called "Luk Khrung" (half-blood).😉
A conversation about this arose on the Facebook page of Thailand Community, which went as follows:
Tina Banning-Essing said:
“What I regret is that in recent years only half-breeds have won and not a full-blooded Thai. I think the last time a thoroughbred Thai won was 20 years ago.”
John Drew commented:
“Unfortunately, this is the mindset of the Thai themselves. A slightly brighter skin, a farang nose, and also the length, which is usually slightly more in a farang, in contrast to a Thai woman, play a major role in the assessment for many. In the daily soap operas on TV, almost every 2nd woman, who is considered beautiful by many, is a so-called Loek Khrüng (half-blood)”.
Father Obdam
Anyway, back to the surname Obdam. I wanted to know more about father Obdam, but unfortunately I didn't succeed. There are many websites dealing with this pageant, which mention a Canadian father and sometimes a Dutch-Canadian father, but no more details are given. There is a photo with her mother on Amanda's Facebook page, but father Obdam does not appear in the story.
Questions such as whether father Obdam was born in the Netherlands or Canada or is he the son of parents who have migrated to Canada, or has the name Obdam been in the Canadian family for some time? I am also curious how father Obdam ended up in Thailand and whether he is still in the picture with mother and daughter.
Important? No, I'm just curious every now and then!
Finally
I have looked at many photos of Amanda Obdam and I completely agree with the choice of her as Miss Universe Thailand 2020, because she is a truly beautiful lady. Would she know if there is still a connection with the Netherlands? I think I'm going to send her a message!
Source: www.khaosodenglish.com/