Miss Universe Cambodia admits using Thai photos by mistake, no apology

Miss Universe Cambodia 2026 has acknowledged that images of women from Kamphaeng Phet, Thailand, were mistakenly used in a pageant presentation after the images were presented as depicting Cambodian women.

The controversy emerged after the images were shown during the Miss Universe Cambodia 2026 preliminary round, where they were presented as historical images of Khmer women and as examples of Cambodian dress.

The use of the images drew widespread criticism in Thailand, with the images subsequently identified as photographs of women from Kamphaeng Phet wearing traditional Thai clothing.

Thailand’s Ministry of Culture presented the original glass plate negative of the photograph as evidence of its provenance.

The photograph is part of the Royal Photographic Glass Plate Negatives and Original Prints Collection, a major historical archive containing 35,427 glass plate negatives and about 50,000 original prints dating from 1855 to 1935. The collection was inscribed on UNESCO’s Memory of the World International Register in 2017.

Khaosod English previously reported that the photograph of women from Kamphaeng Phet was taken in 1906 during the reign of King Chulalongkorn and is held in the collection.

In a statement, Miss Universe Cambodia said the use of the images was “unintentional” and resulted from “insufficient verification of the original sources of those images”.

The pageant organisation said there had been no intention to cause misunderstanding, controversy or offend audiences in Cambodia or internationally.

It said it accepted constructive feedback and criticism and would strengthen its procedures for verifying the sources of information, images and other content in the future.

The statement did not include an apology.

The organisation added that it would take the incident as a “valuable learning experience” and improve its verification procedures to ensure greater clarity, accuracy and responsibility.