Miss Aphone Lao beauty contest 2008 was held on 20 December, at the National Cultural Hall, Vientiane Capital, Laos.

18 women selected across the country are attended at the Miss Aphone contest 2008 last night and the final results for this beauty contest is as follow:

Miss Apone Lao 2008 is A10 from Champasack
The frist runner up is A9 from Champasack
The second runner up is A2 from Vientiane
The 4 & 5th is A8 & A16 from Vientiane

Miss Congeniality is A7 from Luang Prabang
Miss Photogenic is A8 from Vientiane
Miss Popular vote is A4 from Vientiane

All the competitors had learnt many kinds of activities before the contest for examples: the Lao Traditional, food cooking and other traditional culture of Laos. The Miss Aphone contest is aiming at promoting fine traditional culture of Laos.

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Ms Tunee Lasasombath from Vientiane was crowned the winner of this year's Miss Apone Lao pageant on Saturday night, delighting her local fans.

The 18-year-old finalist received a crown worth 14 million kip, cash worth 30 million kip and other gifts after being named the winner...more info

In choosing the winner, the judging panel considered the attitude of the contestants, looking to see if they were true Lao women, how well they answered the questions put to them and how they had behaved in the run-up to the contest.

The 169-cm-tall Ms Tunee gave what the judges considered to be the best answers to the final question of what the ideal Miss Apone Lao winner should be - that real Lao women should be polite, well-behaved, but by no means weak.

“When they called my name, I kept asking myself whether this was really happening,” she told Vientiane Times yesterday.

“I was so happy just to be one of the 18 finalists, and this is just so much more than I had expected!”

“I plan to keep my crown, so that I can wear it on special occasions, and the money I've won will go towards my education,” she said.

The runner-up was Khoutthavon Akkhalath, 19, from Vientiane province, who received 15 million kip in cash, as well as a cash and other gifts.

Four finalists shared second place as runners-up - Manivan Phomsavath, 19, from Luang Prabang province, Souphavadee Phongsavanh, 18, from Savannakhet province, Anoulack Vongsoulee, 20, from Vientiane , and Sithameena Bouapha, 18, from Savannakhet province.

Ms Sithameena was also voted the most beautiful contestant by the local media, and received a separate prize worth 5 million kip.

Miss Souphavadee was voted by the public as the most beautiful contestant, with the highest number of votes received via SMS on a system set up by mobile phone company tigo.

Originally, 18 finalists were chosen to take part in Saturday's contest, but one of them, Ms Phoulatsamee Lattanavong, withdrew from the event.

Ms Tunee, as the 2007 Miss Apone Lao, will be considered a representative of Laos, and will act as an ambassador for Lao culture and traditions, both locally and internationally.

This is the largest beauty contest in the country, and the first that the government has been involved in.

The hosts, the Lao Women's Union and K&C Company Ltd, selected nine out of 350 Vientiane applicants for the final round. In Savannakhet and Champassak provinces, about 140 women applied and three from each province were selected to compete in the final. In Luang Prabang province, 55 women applied, and three were chosen.

The Lao Women's Union and K&C Company Ltd plan to hold this contest each year until 2010.

Source: vientianetimes newspaper via laosmile