Pageant contestant denies any wrongdoing amid suspicions of conflict of interest
Miss Universe Thailand (MUT) contender Chayathanus "Cheraim" Saradatta, who is in the eye of a storm over alleged conflict of interest, told a media conference on Tuesday that she would not back out of the beauty pageant after entering the next stage with 29 other contestants.
She said she would leave the decision on whether she should continue to the contest organisers.
Update: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30395399
There was a question mark over her continuance in the contest after it was discovered that a phone number on Chayathanus’ Instagram account was that of her manager Sithichai Reoviroj who is also working for the pageant organisers.
Cheraim claimed that she did not have a personal manager initially but she used to seek advice from Sithichai for a health problem.
She said the reason she chose Sittichai to manage her career was because she used to contact him in the past and sometimes he also gave her jobs.
Asked about suspicions that Sittichai may have told her about the questions she would be asked during the contest to help her prepare, Cheraim said that she was not given any advance information and she had no advantage over the other contestants.
She emphasised that she did not want to give up her legitimate right to take part in the contest and she would let the pageant organisers decide on her fate. She said she hadn’t decided yet if she would register for next year's contest.
Sittichai revealed that he had joined the MUT organisers as a freelancer. He attended staff meetings three times but did not pass on any information to Cheraim. He said he only arranged her schedule and found jobs for her. However, he admitted that he had not told the organisers about his involvement with a contestant.
