Now for the obvious question, what do Sushmita and and Aishwarya have to do with the Asian Games? Well actually nothing, and yet a lot. For one, the Thai organisers of the 13th Asian Games have carefully chosen all the young lady standard bearers -- the ones who precede each contingent at the opening ceremony. An overwhelming number of them are former Miss Thailands. At one of numerous press releases made available on the eve of the opening ceremony, there was one that listed the namesand nicknames of all the `beauty queens' who were doing the duty as standard bearers for the various participating countries.

Chutima, one of the young and strikingly beautiful volunteers at the Games, also kind enough to translate the Thai names, confessed young ladies in this country, like elsewhere, eagerly await each year's Miss World and Miss Universe contests. "Your country wins the awards every year," she smiles and says in halting English. She even remembers the words Sen and Rai though in heavy Thai accent.

At the opening ceremony one popular game, much in the vein of `Spot the Celebrity' form was to name the beauty queen carrying the standard as each country's contingent walked into the Stadium on Sunday. Most young ladies knew the ladies by names, and what's more, even by their nicknames.

With formal Thai names being so long, nicknames are what most fanous people are referred to by. Pontip Nak (the English spelling was provided by another young beautiful lady, who did not want to beidentified), nicknamed "Pui" the first Miss Universe from Thailand, was among the standard bearers and she naturally walked ahead of the Thai contingent.

As the opening ceremony wove its way past Thai folklore, Chutima -- no aspirant to such a contest, now or ever -- interestingly informed me many of the contestants in Thai beauty contests spend most of their time in United States and other western countries. Many of them are of mixed parentage, she says. For instance, Pui's mother is Thai and her father "probably" American, says Chutima.

Some months on an earlier visit to Thailand, one of the guides had said most of the beauty queens hail from the northern parts of Thailand like Chiang Mai. When asked, Chutima seemed a little miffed and hurriedly said, "Of course, not." I need not have asked, obviously Chutima is not from Chiang Mai. But she did add the fact, that the climate and weather, much cooler in the northern parts of Thailand, did play a part in their skin being near translucent and blemishless.