Thai Beauty Queen Resigns Over Social Media Attack

We all realize that social media is public, right? On Monday, Miss Universe Thailand stepped down less than a month into her reign amid a social media firestorm caused by her since-deleted Twitter account. At a news conference held Monday, Weluree Ditsayabut tearfully explained that she could no longer face the hateful comments aimed at her Twitter and Facebook accounts, which took jabs at her weight and political views. Though the comments on her weight are inexcusable and rightfully frustrating, Ditsayabut initially came under fire when she got political, but not in a tactful (or queenly) way.

According to The Associated Press, Ditsayabut wrote on Facebook that "red shirt" supporters of Thailand's overthrown government should be executed. The incendiary Facebook musings, though penned before she won her title, landed her in the crosshairs of a still-sensitive issue. And then there's this, erm, blunt, musing from mid-November:

You Red Shirts, you get out of here. Thailand's soil is dirty because of anti-monarchy people like you.

At Monday's news conference, the abdicated queen said that the blow-back from her comments ultimately outweighed the joys of the crown.

"When I saw my mom not being able to sleep at night, I couldn't either," she said.

Not that it would've ever been appropriate, but her comment surfaced with terrible timing. Last month, Thailand's long-tepid political climate hit another bump when a military coup had soldiers stationed along the streets to control a deeper rift between the "red shirts" (largely rural supporters of ousted Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra) and royalist establishment.

Well, if seeing Miss Congeniality at least 100 times over the course of my childhood taught me anything, is that no beauty queen is typical. Some are FBI agents, and some are loyalists to the monarchy. Hey, different strokes. Still, several beauty queens have been dethroned over the years for reasons reasons both valiant and not. For example...

Domonique Ramirez

The 129-pound Miss San Antonio winner was stripped of her crown after being told that she needed to "lay off the tacos" at a bikini shoot. Though pageant officials denied the taco allegations, Ramirez didn't leave quietly. She sued the pageant, eventually taking her crown back and representing San Antonio in the 2011 Miss Texas pageant.

Vanessa Williams

In 1984, Vanessa Williams made history when she became the first black woman to be crowed Miss America. She stepped down later that year when nude photos from her pre-pageant days surfaced, then got some delicious revenge when the photos ran on the cover of Penthouse later that year, and she still went on to have a prolific (and positive!) singing and acting career. Hm, so being in touch with your sexuality doesn't preclude you from being a functioning member of society?!

Carrie Prejean

So the official story on the books is that Prejean was stripped of her Miss California title because she was making unauthorized appearances and not fulfilling her contract. Her handler, the ever-awful Donald Trump, had already overlooked her racy photos and what she really should have been fired for: making anti-gay comments at the actual pageant. Prejean maintains that her ignorance was the real reason she was ousted. We hope so.

Image: Miss Universe 2014/Twitter