Miss Universe Thailand 2020 Amanda Obdam has been removed as the mental health ambassador by the Department of Mental Health who recently appointed the queen as the mental health ambassador.

The Department of Mental Health’s official Facebook page posted a press release on Tuesday i.e., 2nd March 2021 where they mentioned the dismissal of the beauty queen as their mental health ambassador with immediate effect. According to sources, the people at the Department of Mental Health were concerned about her actions and words recently. They mentioned, she spread, ‘conflict and discomfort’.

The statement read, “The Department of Mental Health acknowledges people’s concerns and it cannot proceed with [Amanda’s] mission that may cause conflict and discomfort among the people … therefore we have terminated Amanda’s brand ambassadorship from this point onward. Our goal is to promote happiness and joy among all Thai citizens, and we have always prioritized your feedback.” Some netizens including the former government officials took to their social media to argue that Amanda was not suitable to represent Thailand at Miss Universe 2020 and mentioned, “To appoint someone with a repeated history of controversial public sentiments… someone who lacks self-reflection and is not neutral, who spreads fake news and has denounced her own country – will inevitably cause a rift and conflict in society!”

Miss Universe Thailand 2020 spoke critically of state violence used against the pro-democracy movement. She used her social media to express her disgust at images showing security forces appearing to assault medical volunteers in the street. “DISGUSTING BEHAVIOR. Where is the humanity? #PoliceBeatMedicalWorker. How can we talk about love when there’s still violence on the street?”, she tweeted.

Amanda who is going to represent Thailand at Miss Universe 2020 became the department’s mental health ambassador, as the department had agreed with the pageant’s organizers to name the winner as an ambassador. Dr Panpimol rejected reports that the decision to appoint Amanda as the department’s mental health ambassador was “a favor” to anyone and stated that she was chosen with the task of encouraging people to be good listeners and raising public awareness on mental health problems in the country.

The beauty queen held a press conference a few hours later after she was dismissed as the mental health ambassador and during the conference she stated, "I'm okay, I'm doing very well, my mental health is all good. I am going to work on this project with all my heart and I will put all my action into it.” The diva has been receiving so much love and support across the world for standing up to what she feels is right and the fans started a hashtag on social media #SaveAmanda to show their support for the beauty queen’s voice.

Amanda recently launched her campaign, “Have you listened?” as a part of her advocacy and her personal beliefs that we all are living in a society where everybody wants to speak but nobody wants to listen. The campaign is initiated to create awareness and reiterate the importance of listening, to listen with empathy and just the act of listening can do so much more than one can think.  

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