Thuy Anh (first from the left).

Thuy Anh was fined for participating in this pageant without permission from the authorities.

Mr. Vo Trong Nam, Deputy Director of the HCM City Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said the VND22.5 million fine was given after the Department considered Thuy Anh’s report and directly talked with her on October 21.

In her report, Thuy Anh explained that she did not have time to get the permission. "Other candidates arrived in South Korea on October 5. On October 7 I got a visa to go there. Therefore I did not have enough time to fulfill the procedures for getting permission," she explained.

The model had to withdraw from a TV show on October 27 because of this scandal.

Thuy Anh was directly invited by the organizing board of the pageant because she participated in the Asian Supermodel Awards. In the invitation letter, the organizer said that Thuy Anh has a characteristic Asian face and she met the criteria of the pageant.

Thuy Anh entered the Top 10 of Asian Supermodel and was a finalist of the Vietnam Supermodel 2013.

According to Wikipedia, Miss Global Beauty Queen is a beauty contest of cities (contestants representing cities, not countries), which was launched in 2005.

From 2005 to 2009, the competition was held in China - the birthplace of the contest. In 2011, it took place in South Korea with a larger scale, with national representatives. Vietnam’s candidate Phan Thi Huong Giang made the top 15 in 2011.

Before this case this year, several Vietnamese models were fined for the same violation. 

This September model Nguyen Thi Quynh Nga illegally participated in the Miss Southeast Asia pageant.

In 2014, model Dieu Linh attended Miss Tourism International (the predecessor of Miss Southeast Asia pageant) without permission. She won the top award and was fined VND22.5 million. 

Earlier, model Phan Hoang Thu had to pay fine of VND15 million for the same violation, also at this contest.