Miss Grand International, also known as Miss Grand, is an international beauty pageant franchise that is based in Thailand. It consists of the annual national pageant Miss Grand Thailand, as well as the international competition Miss Grand International, to which participating rights are licensed to organizers in other countries. The franchise has been owned and run by a Thai stock exchange-listed company with the same name, also known as MGI PCL, since its inception in 2013, with Nawat Itsaragrisil as the president.
The current Miss Grand International is Emma Tiglao of the Philippines. Her title marked the first back-to-back victory in Miss Grand International history.
History Miss Grand International was founded in 2013 by Nawat Itsaragrisil, a Thai television host and producer. The pageant was founded in Thailand amidst a political crisis, inspiring the organizers to use the slogan "No mob, Stop the Wars" as part of its identity, later rephrased to "Stop the War and Violence" in the following year. The organisation states that the pageant campaigns against armed conflict of every kind.
Reigning titleholders serve as the organisation's spokesperson for the year and appear at charity events tied to that campaign. Their activities have included working with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to raise funds for humanitarian aid, visiting refugee camps and donating supplies to the internally displaced people there, speaking at related events, serving as ambassador for NGOs such as the Catholic Medical Mission Board and Model United Nations, and joining projects of local charities in the countries they visit. Before 2021 the winner and runners-up often campaigned for the Tourism Authority of Thailand.
Contestants are selected by the licensee in each country. The first three competitions were held in Thailand, sponsored by the government of Thailand and televised on Channel 7, while later editions have also been held abroad, and broadcast on local television channels and on the pageant's YouTube and Facebook accounts.
The 2019 edition was held in Venezuela during the political crisis there, and the delegates of South Korea, Cambodia and Laos, among others, withdrew over security and visa problems. The 2020 edition was to have been held in Venezuela on 25 October, but the COVID-19 pandemic delayed it to 2021 and moved it to Bangkok.
On 4 December 2025 the organisation announced MGI All Stars, a separate competition for women who have already competed in an international pageant.
Contestant selection The franchise holder in each country or territory selects its contestant by national contest, internal casting or direct appointment. In the first decade almost half were appointed rather than chosen in a national pageant. In countries where pageants have a large following, particularly in East Asia and the Americas, an annual national pageant selects the entrant. Examples are Miss Grand Cambodia, Miss Grand Malaysia, Miss Grand Nepal and Miss Grand Paraguay. Some entrants have instead been winners or runners-up of other national pageants, among them Femina Miss India (2015–2021), Binibining Pilipinas (2013, 2015 – 2022), Miss Mexico (2017 – 2020), Felvidék Szépe (2015 – 2017), etc.
Although the event draws less commercial interest in Europe and Africa, a number of countries there hold their own Miss Grand pageants, among them Albania, Kosovo, Spain, France, Italy, and South Africa.
In Spain, Italy and several Asian countries each administrative division holds a preliminary competition to choose its delegate to the national pageant. In parts of Spain, Malaysia and Thailand, third-level divisions hold their own pageants to send delegates to the provincial round, whose winners carry the title "Miss Grand" with the province name for their year. The swimsuit competition has kept some countries out, among them conservative and Muslim-majority states, while others have not taken part for want of funding.
The Miss Grand name is registered internationally, but unrelated pageants use it. They include the Azerbaijani model search "Miss and Mister Grand Azerbaijan", run by Elxan Pashayev since 2018, "Miss Zimbabwe Grand", run by Farai Zembeni since 2019, whose finalists enter continental contests in Africa, and "Miss Grand Bahama", held in the Bahamas since 1970 and named for the island of Grand Bahama.
Main pageant The first edition was held in Bangkok in 2013 with sponsorship from the government of Thailand and featured 73 participating countries; the inaugural titleholder was Janelee Chaparro of Puerto Rico. In 2016, the pageant was held for the first time outside Thailand, at Westgate Las Vegas, Las Vegas, US, on 25 October. From 2015 the grand final has usually fallen on 25 October. The COVID-19 pandemic delayed two editions: the 2020 final, set for 25 October that year, was put back to 27 March 2021 and moved to Bangkok, and the 2021 final was held that December, two months late. Twice the reigning titleholder has been unable to complete her duties and the first runner-up has been appointed in her place. The first occurred in 2015, when Claire Elizabeth Parker of Australia took over the title after Anea Garcia of the Dominican Republic. The second took place in 2024, when Christine Juliane Opiaza of the Philippines succeeded Rachel Gupta of India.
The current titleholder is Emma Mary Tiglao of the Philippines, crowned on 18 October 2025 at MGI Hall in Bangkok. She is the second Filipina to hold the title and the first to follow a compatriot directly. Edition Date Final venue Host country Entrants Ref. 2013 19 November Impact Arena, Muang Thong Thani, NonthaburiThailand 71 2014 7 OctoberIndoor Stadium Huamark, Bangkok 201525 October 2016 Westgate Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada United States 2017 Vinpearl Convention Center, Phú Quốc Vietnam 2018 The One Entertainment Park, Yangon Myanmar 2019 Poliedro de Caracas, Caracas Venezuela 2020 27 March 2021Show DC Hall, BangkokThailand 63 2021 4 December 202225 October Sentul International Convention Center, West Java Indonesia 68 2023 Phú Thọ Indoor Stadium, Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam 2024MGI Hall, Bravo BKK Mall, BangkokThailand 2025 18 October 2026 10 October 2027 October Vietnam
Pre-pageant activities
Three events precede the final: the swimsuit competition, the national costume parade and the preliminary contest. The swimsuit competition is held at a separate venue and decides the Best in Swimsuit award; the national costume parade and the preliminary round usually take place at the final venue. All three are streamed on the pageant's Facebook and YouTube accounts. Contestants appear in swimwear and evening gowns before a panel of preliminary judges. These rounds decide the Best Evening Gown and Best in Swimsuit awards, which are announced on the final night along with Best National Costume and Miss Popular Vote. Scores from the preliminary and swimsuit rounds, the ancillary events and a closed-door interview together determine the top 20 on the night of the final.
Awards Edition Best in Swimsuit Best National Costume Best Evening Gown Miss Popular Vote Country's Power of The Year Best Social Media Grand Talent Ref.2013 rowspan=7 rowspan=1 rowspan="9" 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 rowspan=3 2020 2021 rowspan=1 2022 2023rowspan=3 20242025
Grand Final
The grand final of the pageant is usually broadcast worldwide on television and the social media platforms of the pageant. As the tradition of the pageant, twenty semi-finalists are chosen from the initial pool of contestants through observation during the entire pageant, a closed-door interview, swimsuit round as well as a preliminary competition, which featured contestants competing in swimsuits and evening gowns. However, the "Country of the year" was first introduced in 2020 edition, which was selected by the audience on social networks. The winner of this category automatically enters the twenty finalists regardless of all previous scores. The top 20 would then compete in a swimsuit competition, with 10 of them advancing to the top 10, this number eventually was reduced to nine with the 10th semi-finalist being the Top Popularity Winner determined through mobile voting, all 10 semi-finalists would then compete in an evening gown and give their speeches with a 'Stop the War and Violence' theme.
After the speech round and evening gown competitions, the judges then select the top five to compete in the question-and-answer portion, where all entrants will be asked the same question about an ongoing global situation; such as the management of COVID-19 pandemic crisis, the 2016 United States presidential election, and the ongoing socioeconomic and political crisis in Venezuela. The judges select the winner based on their answer and their previous accumulated scores, then the host will sequentially announce the fourth, third and second runners-up. The last two candidates of the top five finalists will then stand in the center of the stage, and one will be named Miss Grand International.
Crowns and awards
As the tradition of this pageant, the crown of the title holders, known as the Golden Crown, has been set to be changed every 3 years, all versions of the Golden Crown are made of gold and brass for structural integrity, while the exterior is adorned by diamond, and emerald. Its first version was designed by a Thai jewellery design company, God Diamond, headed by Chawalit Chommuang, and was used for the first three editions of the pageant. The crown used from 2016 – 2018 (2nd version) and 2019 – 2024 (3rd and 4th versions) was designed by an unrevealed company and George Wittels, respectively. After transferring the crown to the successor, the immediate predecessor is provided with a replica tiara, which is usually produced by the same designer as its master.
In 2014, the organizer offered US$ 40,000 cash to the winner for spending a year work as the organization's spokesperson in its campaign, the prize was increased from US$ 30,000 in 2013; however, some Vietnamese media published that Nguyễn Thúc Thùy Tiên earned US$ 60,000 for winning the contest in 2021. In 2023, the winner, Luciana Fuster, was reported to have received a total cash prize of US$120,000, disbursed in monthly installments of US$10,000.
Furthermore, all four runners-up of each edition, also received cash prizes, ABS-CBN reported that Samantha Bernardo of the Philippines received US$ 6,000 in cash after she had obtained the first runner-up title at the Miss Grand International 2020 pageant in Bangkok, Thailand, Vartika Singh of India received US$ 4,000 for her second runner-up finish at the 2015 edition, and 3,000 and US$2,000 for the third and fourth runners-up, respectively. Besides the finalists, the winner of each special award also received a prize; approximately US$ 1,000 – 3,000 according to the 2013 to 2015 contests.
Gallery of Miss Grand International crowns
Recent titleholders
Edition(Year) Represented Miss Grand International Location Number of Entrants 13th(2025) Emma Tiglao Miss Grand Philippines 2025 Bangkok, Thailand 77 12th(2024) CJ Opiaza Miss Grand Philippines 2024 68 11th(2023) Luciana Fuster Miss Grand Peru 2023 Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam 69 10th(2022) Isabella Menin Miss Grand Brazil 2022 West Java, Indonesia 68 9th(2021) Nguyễn Thúc Thùy Tiên Miss Grand Vietnam 2021 Bangkok, Thailand 59
Winners gallery
Miss Grand national pageants
In addition to Thailand, several national licensees have been separately organizing their preliminary pageants to select the representatives for the Miss Grand International pageant. As listed below, the lists were divided into four geographic continent groups, including; Africa, the Americas, Asia-Oceania, and Europe. Legend