Thaksin said at Nakhon Phanom University on Saturday (Jan 18) that Ms Campbell will be in the country from Feb 8-10 to give him tips on how Thais can follow her success as a supermodel.
The de facto leader of the Pheu Thai Party said Thais of all genders with potential would be screened from villages up to the top level to train them to be world-class models, with the only condition that they must possess a natural look with no surgery, reports the Bangkok Post.
“We will screen Thais who are born beautiful by nature, without beauty surgery,” he said during a rally in Muang district in Nakhon Phanom province to support the campaign of Pheu Thai’s Anuchit Hongsadee for provincial administration organisation president.
“Anyone inspired to become a world-class model can come out of their small hut to join the scheme,” the ex-prime minister said.
The nationwide election of local government chiefs will be held on Feb 1.
Thaksin asked for help from all villagers to start scouting women, men and LGBTQ people in their neighbourhoods with the potential to be models to take part in the scheme.
The National Soft Power Development Committee led by chairman Surapong Suebwonglee, has driven the scheme, Thaksin said, which needs about B20 million to achieve success.
Thaksin said he had held talks with Dr Surapong and decided to finance the project from his own pocket and from other sponsors he would approach.
He said the idea behind the supermodel discovery drive was to see villagers upskilled and give them better opportunities to make more money than the the average daily wage.
“The prime minister announced that this year is a year of opportunity. I would like to offer opportunities in all aspects,” he added, referring to one of the New Year wishes of his daughter, Paetongtarn.
Thaksin presented the idea during a seminar held by Pheu Thai in December last year, but he talked only about women in the northeastern region. Later, on Jan 5, he said in Chiang Mai province that he wanted to see Thai women with natural beauty join beauty contests.
Parts of the speech brought strong accusations of racism when he described models from Africa.
“African people, who have black skin and flat noses that make it difficult to breathe, are hired for millions of baht to be models,” he said. “Thai people look much better. There’s no need for [our people to get] nose, jaw or breast augmentation.”
“It’s time to encourage more Thais, including those from ethnic groups like the Karen, who possess natural beauty, to become international models,” he added.
His daughter Paetongtarn came out to defend him, saying her father had no intention of making any discriminatory remarks.