Thailand's pride Tawan Kedkong has been crowned the winner of Asia's Next Top Model Cycle 4 (AsNTM) on June 1 in Singapore, beating Korea's Sang In-kim and Indonesia's Patricia Gunawan.
Although Tawan was the least expected contestant to grab the top prize, judges chose her for her flabbergasting runway performance and photoshoot. Tawan was the last one to enter the competition's top three after Philippine's Julian Flores was eliminated.
"Congratulations to Tawan for being crowned Asia's Next Top Model! You have truly impressed all of us with your elegance, your beauty, and most of all, your transformation from a little kitten to a ferocious Thai-tiger! Well done STAR World Asia," AsNTM announced via Facebook.
Tawan has received loads of congratulatory messages from her fans. Some have explained why they think Tawan deserves the title. "The only girl who can balance between photoshoot and runway is Tawan, so, Congrats GIRL!!!" one user wrote.
Jiratchaya Kedkong, commonly called Tawan, is a highly accomplished professional model. She has graced covers of a number of magazine covers and is currently signed on with Fame Management Asia in Bangkok.
According to International Business Times, the Thai model pretty had a rough start in the competition as she almost always found herself in the bottom two with Filipina beauty Julian Flores. However, Tawan managed to improve her skills along the way.
"I've seen Tawan grow and learn throughout the season - from a shy girl who lacked confidence, to a strong and fierce model," Cindy Bishop, one of the judges, said during the finale.
