Thai designer to wave the flag for peace

Thai designer and fashion icon, Kai Ukas is to receive the Amity Honour at the 2018 World Peace Awards 2018 in September, organisers announced last week.

The World Peace conference will be held in Stockholm City Hall, which also hosts the Nobel Prize awards.

The ceremony is being held by the Abbot of Wat Budharam, organiser of Stockholm World Peace International 2018, with Ingmarie Hedberg Kikuchi, chairman of the Universal Peace Federation, and the Swedish Government. Some 1,000 people are expected to attend. 

Kai is one of 20 individuals chosen for the honour and is the first female designer from Thailand to become a Peace Ambassador.

The Abbot of Wat Budharam says that the International Word Peace Organisation wants this event to be global. It is not, he adds, about religion but totally focused on peace.

Peace can only be brought about by finding solutions to the world’s problems and ending terrorism and supporting cultural identity, he adds.

The jury decided to give this award to Kai because of her dedication to supporting culture and unity. She uses local fabrics, usually Thai silk, to represent the colourful of Thai and Asian cultures.

She said, “Clothing is more than just what we wear. It can support both peace and unity and help us learn to live with people that are different from us. Religion or faith cannot solve all problems, because there is believers and non-believer out there in the world. The main point to live peacefully is to respect each other.”

Kai has already received a number of awards including the De Fele De Mode [Golden Thimble] in 2000.

Editor: John Li