Nawat Itsaragrisil insisted that he did not call anyone a “dumb head”. It was “damage”, stupid. The whole world now has hearing problems

Nawat Itsaragrisil in ‘tears’ and the post he shared on Instagram Stories. Screen shot (left): TikTok. Photo: (right): nawat.tv/Instagram

Warning: Due to audio interference, all insults will now be reclassified as abstract nouns. We regret any damage caused by the word ‘damage’

When the self-styled dowager of Southeast Asian pageantry, Nawat Itsaragrisil, scolded Miss Mexico with the now-infamous “dumb head” description, you could hear the ballroom gasp. The audio was crisp, the insult was clear. Here was a pageant veteran, a nak sa som (collector) of sashes, berating a contestant, thought to be the first of its kind. But in a dazzling twist of post-scandal choreography, Mr Itsaragrisil claimed he said “damage”—not “dumb head.” The press sprinted with that to meet datelines. Thus began the most flamboyant act of linguistic laundering in pageant history.

Since that scandal-stamped incident, there has been so many videos shared online regarding what Mr Itsaragrisil said, or did not say. In one of them, he tried correcting the phrase he clearly used by first saying he meant to utter “damn it” and then, in the same sweet breath, changed it to “damage”. Suddenly verbal aggression is a misunderstood noun. And a patron saint of pageants enjoyed more publicity, again. ‘Damage’ should be the word of the year. Given that Mr Itsaragrisil is somewhat anglo-linguistically deferred, it is curious how he suddenly came up with such a standout among words.

Suddenly verbal aggression is a misunderstood noun. And a patron saint of pageants enjoy more publicity, again

It is grammatical incoherence of amazing beauty. In the one damning video that went viral, Mr Itsaragrisil was heard saying: “If you follow the order from your national director, you’re a dumb head.” (The audio is not garbled or ambiguous. Numerous viewers and journalists have confirmed the clarity of the insult.) “You’re a damage” or “you damage”, therefore, makes no grammatical or contextual sense. “Dumb head” and “damage” have different stress patterns and consonant shapes—especially in Thai-accented English, where “dumb head” is more likely to be enunciated clearly. “Dumb head” has a hard consonant break. “Damage” does not. He was scolding her for not following orders. “Dumb head” fits the emotional tone. “Damage” simply doesn’t.

But it made sense in terms of preserving authority. In fact, the insistence on “damage” has nothing to do with credibility. If he didn’t say “dumb head”, he did not insult her. If he did not insult her, he doesn’t owe her direct accountability. His denial isn’t about truth—it’s about erasure: if he didn’t say it, it didn’t happen. He insisted that the actual sentence uttered was: “If [Miss Mexico] believed and listened to [her] national director, it’s ‘damage’.” But why? He did not say. If Miss Thailand listened to Mr Itsaragrisil, would it be “damage” too? He has spoken about coordination issues behind the scenes, and how difficult it had been for him to be the perfect show organiser. There is no evidence that the contestants were explicitly told by the Miss Universe Organization (MUO) to ignore their national directors upon arrival in Thailand. Instead, the incident appears to stem from a power struggle and communication breakdown between the host committee and national/global Miss Universe leadership, with the contestants caught in the middle.

He was scolding her for not following orders. “Dumb head” fits the emotional tone. “Damage” simply does not

But Mr Itsaragrisil did not let the controversy just rest. In a fresh text-post that was shared a short while ago in Instagram Stories, he wrote (and we quote verbatim): “Freedom of speech (voice) is important, but if the voice are lies it would not be call freedom of speech (voice).” Agreed: “freedom of speech (voice) is important”, but if the voices are lies, it would be hard to call them “freedom of speech (voice)”. Novel grammar aside, there is that groundbreaking “speech (voice)” parenthetical repetition—It’s not just speech; it’s speech with an authentic Patpong understudy. Is this really pageant English in Thailand? Or is this a classic authoritarian move: truth is what the host declares it to be? Or, is he saying, smugness intended: “Only my voice is free. Yours is damage.”

The meaning mangler reframes the insult as a misheard word and attempts to erase intent without admitting fault. The “damage” claim isn’t a correction, it’s a dodge, reframing verbal aggression as a misunderstood technical term. In his tuxedo, in front of the world’s media, Mr Itsaragrisil gave us a riddle wrapped in a tantrum, proi-ed (sprinkled) with broken English, and served on a platter of self-pity. When the mic is hot and the ego is louder, syntax becomes optional, but the cringe is compulsory. MUO should not take away his duties, as they have said they would. They could let damaged Nawat Itsaragrisil teach a new class: How to Rebrand Insults Using Nouns You Can’t Pronounce.