男女羞羞视频在线观看,国产精品黄色免费,麻豆91在线视频,美女被羞羞免费软件下载,国产的一级片,亚洲熟色妇,天天操夜夜摸,一区二区三区在线电影
  Home>News Center>Life
         
 

Miss Universe beauties spurs Thai tsunami recovery
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-05-20 16:38


Miss Canada, Natalie Glebova, takes a rest after snorkelling at Phi Phi Lek. Miss Universe contestants descended on the resort islands of Phuket and Phi Phi to check in on post-tsunami reconstruction and remind the world that Thai tourism is back in business. [AFP]

Miss Universe 2005 contestant Monica Spear of Venezuela puts on jewellery after a poolside photo shoot on the Thai resort island of Phuket, May 19, 2005. The Miss Universe 2005 pageant will take place in Bangkok, Thailand, on May 31, 2005. [Reuters]


Miss Universe contestants descended on the resort islands of Phuket and Phi Phi to check in on post-tsunami reconstruction and remind the world that Thai tourism is back in business.

While some of the 81 contestants vying for the crown held by current Miss Universe Jennifer Hawkins snorkeled along Thailand's southern coast, others visited a hospital that cared for victims of December's disaster and observed Patong beach's new tsunami warning system.

Host Thailand has promoted this year's pageant as an opportunity to showcase Asia's rebound from the giant waves, and many of the contestants from countries affected by the catastrophe felt the tug of emotion as they visited Phuket.

"It's close to my heart," Miss India Amrita Thapar told AFP of the regional recovery effort.

"These countries were affected by the tsunami, and it's a step in the right direction to have us here, not just in the beauty pageant but supporting the cause and letting people know that Asia has what it takes to move on."

Thai officials and entrepreneurs want to present the kingdom as a tsunami zone that has battled back from disaster to reclaim its spot as Southeast Asia's most popular tourist destination.

"The Thai spirit is very much alive and undaunted by the challenges of recovery," Kittikorn Kewkacha, chief executive officer of the Phuket FantaSea theme park, told the beauty queens.

Somsak Thepsutin, the minister of tourism and sport, said the pageant's visit to Phuket would serve as a huge plug for Thailand's beaches, which are major draws for the more than 10 million tourists who visit the kingdom each year.

"The images of a tsunami-hit island are gone," he told AFP. "It is not as it was before... and having Miss Universe here brings beauty to Phuket."

On nearby Phi Phi, scene of the Hollywood movie "The Beach", half a dozen contestants frolicked in the surf and snorkeled, but they were kept away from the worst-hit parts of the once-idyllic island, where 700 people died in the waves and much of the tourism infrastructure still lies in rubble.

Thailand's tourism industry nearly collapsed following the tsunami, which devastated several coastal communities in the kingdom and left some 5,400 people dead, about half of them foreign holidaymakers.

Contestants from India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand were among several who visited Patong Hospital, one of the beach communities worst hit on Phuket, and met with doctors and staff.

They helped a Thai brewery present a 12 million baht (300,000 dollar) check to the hospital and also observed the community's new tsunami warning system.

Miss Germany, Asli Bayram, whose country lost 463 of its citizens, most of whom had been holidaying in Thailand over Christmas, said painful tsunami images and feelings came back to her as she stepped onto the sands of Patong beach.

"It was very emotional," she said, but noted that Phuket residents were remarkably poised in the aftermath of tragedy.

Contestants then paraded onto a Phuket beach in their swimsuits -- all of them in bikinis, except for Miss Indonesia Artika Sari Devi, who appeared in a one-piece in what organisers said was her first pageant appearance in swimwear.

Artika is the first woman to represent the world's largest Muslim nation in the Miss Universe contest since 1996, when a Miss Indonesia participated as an observer. Before departing for Thailand Artika told local media she would not bare too much skin.

The contestants for the US-run pageant are engaged in three weeks of official events in the run-up to the final showcase in Bangkok on May 31, when a new Miss Universe will be crowned.


Page: 123



'1930's Shanghai' reminiscence
Urbanisation slammed in avant-garde art
Sophie's breast-exposure steals the show at Cannes
  Today's Top News     Top Life News
 

China to raise export tariffs on 74 clothing categories

 

   
 

49 missing in Hebei coal mine explosions

 

   
 

Hanke: It would be 'foolish' to revalue yuan

 

   
 

Koizumi eyes China ties, defends shrine visits

 

   
 

Beijing to allow mainlanders to visit Taiwan

 

   
 

Deposit rates raised for US, HK dollars

 

   
  Miss Universe beauties spurs Thai tsunami recovery
   
  Philandering officials to tell if they kiss
   
  UK breakthrough as human embryo cloned
   
  Why teens are lousy at chores
   
  Gates warns on information overload
   
  China pulls plug on gay Web site
   
 
  Go to Another Section  
 
 
  Story Tools  
   
  Related Stories  
   
Miss Australia wins Miss Universe title
   
Quito readies for Miss Universe
   
Miss Universe 2004 China competition finals
   
China final of Miss Universe to be held in "Spring City"
   
Transsexual disqualified from Miss Universe
   
Dominican Republic clinches Miss Universe title
   
Miss Puerto Rico wins Miss Universe
  Feature  
  1/3 Chinese youth condone premarital sex  
Advertisement
         
主站蜘蛛池模板: 东城区| 万荣县| 溧水县| 开阳县| 丁青县| 巴东县| 余姚市| 九寨沟县| 东阿县| 丹凤县| 绥阳县| 泰兴市| 宜兴市| 云南省| 东宁县| 九寨沟县| 喀什市| 庆云县| 肇东市| 普陀区| 莱芜市| 高平市| 秀山| 墨玉县| 油尖旺区| 扬州市| 乌拉特前旗| 潼南县| 密山市| 清涧县| 平阴县| 钟山县| 怀来县| 兴业县| 和硕县| 丰镇市| 恩平市| 剑川县| 五台县| 阜平县| 四平市| 永定县| 霍山县| 化德县| 卓资县| 左权县| 西安市| 上林县| 福安市| 墨竹工卡县| 北票市| 子洲县| 辉南县| 孝昌县| 文化| 岳普湖县| 兰溪市| 云阳县| 建瓯市| 同仁县| 竹山县| 淳安县| 揭阳市| 洪雅县| 木兰县| 固镇县| 白河县| 乌鲁木齐市| 昭觉县| 五寨县| 平江县| 江达县| 嘉义市| 西华县| 萨嘎县| 凤冈县| 九龙坡区| 团风县| 武冈市| 拜城县| 海林市| 绥江县|