PATTAYA, Thailand — American contestant Lo Colby was crowned Miss International Queen 2026 on Saturday night, September 19, at Tiffany’s Show Pattaya Theatre, bringing the prestigious international transgender pageant to a spectacular conclusion and giving the United States its second consecutive victory.
Colby, a first-generation Thai-American born and raised on Oahu, Hawaii, and now based in West Hollywood, California, defeated contestants from 26 other countries to become the 20th Miss International Queen.
Her victory was particularly significant because it came after she had already established herself as one of the leading performers of the competition, winning the Best in Talent award earlier in the week.
She succeeds fellow American Midori Monét, who captured the crown in 2025. The back-to-back victories mark the first time the United States has won the Miss International Queen title in consecutive years and bring the country’s total number of victories to four. Previous American winners were Erica Andrews in 2006 and Jazell Barbie Royale in 2019.
Thailand’s Theerachaya Pimkitidaj delighted the home crowd by finishing as first runner-up, while Saki Iwai of Japan was named second runner-up. The remaining members of the Top 6 were Catalina Vallejo of Colombia, Ines Mess of France and Red Spiegelman of the Philippines. The Top 12 also included contestants from Brazil, Costa Rica, Laos, Malaysia, Venezuela and Vietnam.
A crown with a personal meaning
For Colby, however, the journey to the Miss International Queen crown was about considerably more than a pageant title. Her appearance in Pattaya marked her first-ever visit to Thailand, the homeland of her mother.
Colby is a first-generation Thai-American whose mother immigrated to the United States from Thailand. Because of cultural, language and financial barriers, her mother was unable to return to Thailand for more than 30 years. Colby consequently grew up without a direct connection to her maternal relatives and ancestral homeland.
Representing the United States at Miss International Queen therefore gave Colby an opportunity to reconnect with a part of her family history that had remained distant for much of her life. Her arrival in Thailand became an emotional homecoming, allowing her to experience her mother’s homeland for the first time while representing the country in which she was raised. That personal connection added another dimension to a competition built around international representation, identity, culture and visibility.
Growing up with the Aloha spirit
Colby’s upbringing in Hawaii also played an important role in shaping her identity and later advocacy. Raised amid Hawaii’s multicultural community, she has spoken about the visibility of transgender people around her and how that environment helped her understand and embrace her identity as a trans woman from an early age.
She has also described the influence of the “Aloha spirit”, associated with mutual care, respect and compassion. Those values have become an important part of the way she approaches both her personal life and her advocacy work. At the same time, Colby has spoken openly about the difficulties she experienced as a queer child while finding her way and developing her identity.
After moving to Los Angeles, Colby pursued pageantry and eventually won the Miss International Queen USA 2026 title. That victory secured her place as the American representative at the world final in Pattaya, bringing her journey from Hawaii to Thailand full circle.
Pageant titleholder with a wider mission
Away from the stage, Colby has established herself as a transgender advocate, model and pageantry titleholder, with a particular interest in LGBTQIA+ workplace equality.
She serves as the official spokesperson for “Negotiate Your Narrative,” a free online empowerment programme developed by Be The Transformational Change. The programme is designed to give LGBTQIA+ workers professional tools to navigate corporate environments, advocate for fair treatment and address wage inequality.
Her professional background includes work in technology, entrepreneurship, digital content creation and drag performance. She has also been involved with organisations including GLAAD, amfAR, Camp Lightbulb and the Los Angeles LGBT Center, supporting LGBTQ-related fundraising and community initiatives.
Her advocacy platform places particular emphasis on economic empowerment for transgender people, including financial education, career opportunities, entrepreneurship and greater diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
Thailand takes first runner-up
Theerachaya Pimkitidaj gave Thailand a strong home result by finishing first runner-up. She entered Miss International Queen after winning Miss Tiffany’s Universe 2026, the national pageant organised by Tiffany’s Show. Her road to the national title included several attempts before she finally secured the opportunity to represent Thailand on the international stage.
Her performance highlighted the long-established connection between Thailand’s transgender pageantry tradition and Miss International Queen, which has made Pattaya its international home.
Japan’s Saki Iwai completed the Top 3. Iwai had also performed strongly during the week, reaching the final three of the Best National Costume competition and finishing first runner-up in the Talent Quest before securing second runner-up in the main competition.
Talent, fashion and culture before the final
The competition had already begun building momentum well before Saturday night’s crowning. All 27 contestants took part in the Talent Quest, using performance, creativity and stage presence to represent themselves and their countries. Colby’s winning performance earned her the Best in Talent title, while Iwai of Japan was first runner-up and Nguyen Cao Minh Ang of Vietnam was second runner-up. The contestants also experienced a programme designed to place Thai culture alongside the international pageant.
At the High Tea Heritage: Culture & Couture event at the Mandarin Oriental Bangkok, contestants presented Thai heritage fashion and contemporary designs featuring Khomapastr textiles. The gathering brought together contestants, former titleholders, designers, diplomatic representatives and members of the fashion and media industries.
Earlier, the official Welcome and Sash Ceremony at Siam Paragon in Bangkok introduced the 27 national representatives and unveiled the new Reborn Crown, with its butterfly-inspired design symbolising transformation, strength and legacy.
The Evolving Legacy
The 2026 edition marked the 20th anniversary of Miss International Queen, although it was the 20th edition rather than the 20th consecutive year because the competition was not staged in 2008, 2016, 2017 and 2021. This year’s theme was “The Evolving Legacy: Empower Every Voice.”
The organisers presented the anniversary edition as an evolution beyond a conventional beauty competition, linking transgender visibility with culture, fashion, tourism, entertainment and the so-called Pink Economy.
The 27 contestants arrived in Thailand in early September and participated in a series of events leading to the Pattaya finale, giving the competition a strong cultural and social dimension alongside its traditional pageant elements.
A forum for equality
One of the major additions to this year’s programme was the World Equality Forum, organised by Miss International Queen in cooperation with the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce and Bangkok Pride. Representatives from the 27 participating countries took part in discussions addressing equality, social issues, corporate responsibility and international dialogue. The forum reflected the organisers’ stated intention to provide contestants with an opportunity to discuss their experiences and ideas rather than limiting their participation to the pageant stage.
The preliminary competition at Tiffany’s Show Pattaya Theatre on September 17 featured swimwear, evening gown and speech segments. The strongest preliminary performance earned an automatic place in the Top 12. At the grand finale two nights later, contestants faced national costume, evening gown, swimwear and question-and-answer stages before the field was reduced to the Top 12, Top 6 and finally Top 3. The evening also featured the farewell appearance of reigning Miss International Queen Midori Monét before she handed the crown to her fellow American successor.
Two decades of international pageantry
Miss International Queen was established in 2004 by Tiffany’s Show Pattaya and has developed into an international event attracting transgender women from countries around the world.
The pageant’s stated mission includes promoting awareness of transgender equality and acceptance while providing contestants with an international platform to demonstrate their talents, personalities and aspirations. The organisation has also connected the competition with charitable activities supporting Thailand’s Royal Charity AIDS Foundation.
Over its history, the pageant has produced titleholders from Asia, Europe, North America and Latin America. Previous winners include Thailand’s Treechada Petcharat, Erica Andrews of the United States, Ai Haruna of Japan, Marcela Ohio of Brazil, Valentina Fluchaire of Mexico, Fuschia Anne Ravena of the Philippines, Solange Dekker of the Netherlands, Catalina Marsano of Peru and Midori Monét of the United States.
Pattaya’s international stage
For Pattaya, Miss International Queen has become much more than an annual pageant. Tiffany’s Show Pattaya has served as the competition’s principal international stage, bringing contestants, supporters, media and visitors from around the world to the city. The 2026 edition again placed Pattaya at the centre of an international event combining entertainment, tourism, culture, fashion, diversity and representation.
For Colby, the closing moment carried an especially personal significance. She arrived in Thailand as an American contestant returning, for the first time, to the country from which her mother had emigrated more than three decades earlier. She left Pattaya with the Miss International Queen crown.
Her reign will now include international appearances, advocacy and charitable responsibilities, continuing the role of Miss International Queen as both a pageant titleholder and representative of the values promoted by the organisation.
And for the United States, Colby’s victory keeps the crown at home for a second consecutive year — while giving the 2026 Miss International Queen title a distinctly Thai-American story at the heart of its 20th edition.
