As Mother’s Day was celebrated across the Land of Smiles yesterday , one mum was beaming with joy and pride more than most. Chanoksuang Poonlertlarb’s daughter is Maria Poonlertlarb Ehren, the newly crowned Miss Universe Thailand.
The 25-year-old beauty (whose first name is often transliterated as Mareeya, though she prefers the Western version) will represent the Kingdom in the Miss Universe pageant in Las Vegas in November, and she’s already being tipped as a top contender.
Just over 1.8 metres tall in her bare feet, Maria was born in Bangkok. The family spent several years in Hanoi, but she was back in her hometown by age seven.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in international business from Erasmus University in the Netherlands and a master’s in marketing from the Stockholm Business School in Sweden. Her father is a Swedish engineer and her mother is a university lecturer.
Maria is fluent in Thai, Swedish, English and Mandarin. Her twin brothers, 12 years older, live in Texas in the United States.
Maria got into show business when she was just 13 and has modelled professionally and acted occasionally ever since. She released the song “Boong” in 2010 and later had a modest hit with “Come Along”.
THE NATION )