Miss Universe Thailand became the third runner-up in the Miss Universe pageant held in Mexico City on Sunday morning, Thailand time.

Miss Thailand Universe Suchata “Opal” Chuangsri is a 21-year-old from Phuket province. Her family runs a hotel in the southern island province.

Ms Suchata finished high school at Triam Udom Suksa School and studies international relations at the Faculty of Political Science at Thammasat University. She can speak Thai, English and Chinese.

Ms Suchata was earlier a model and entered her first pageant, Miss Rattanakosin, in 2021.

In 2022, she was the youngest contestant at the Miss Universe Thailand pageant and was the third runner-up at the contest with a special award, Miss Natural Beauty.

This year Ms Suchata was crowned Miss Universe Thailand in July.

Ms Suchata decided to take part in beauty pageants to raise awareness about breast cancer because she underwent an operation to remove a breast tumour at the age of 16.

In the Miss Universe 2024 contest, Miss Denmark Victoria Kjaer Theilvig was crowned Miss Universe. The first and second runners-up were Miss Nigeria and Miss Mexico.