Vanessa Mae Aims To Ski For Thailand At The Winter Olympics

[crazyswede]

The violinist is a British citizen but she also holds a Thai passport. She was born in Singapore to a Chinese mother and a Thai father but she was brought up in England.

Fake!

[whybother]

They were visiting me in Thailand. Other than that, I don't know of added links on their part. I was joking with them about marrying Thai men in order to gain dual citizenship, when we put 1 and 1 together - regarding the girls competing for Thailand. There is a rich history of dozens of men and women, right up to present time, from one nationality competing for another. It's allowed.

It would have been a golden opp for Thais to gain an awareness of the winter Olympics (vast majority don't know anything about it). With Vanessa competing, it serves a similar purpose, though one of 'my' girls had actually beaten several of the top ranked slalom skiers in international competition. When I met her, she was recovering from a bruised shoulder from a fall. Right after the fall, was competition for the US Winter Olympic team, so she had to miss that.

At least Vanessa has Thai heritage.

[Thailion]

Best wishes to you Vanessa.

20 months ago, I petitioned Thai athletic heads re; a similar plight.

I had met two American winter sportswomen who were best friends with each other. One was world-class slalom skier and the other a speed skater of more modest credentials. Both about 21, attractive, cute, without an ounce of fat. I had a bit of correspondence with someone high up in Thai athletics, but he couldn't/didn't grasp opportunity by the forelocks. I even wrote a few letters which were published in the Nation and the Post at that time, on that plight. The US girls were willing to compete for Thailand, if offered Thai passports. It's known that many countries do similar legal things when wanting a person from another country to compete on their side.

How do you know they didn't have an ounce of fat??? Do tell!

Edited January 22, 2013 by Thailion

[Tanlic]

Been 57 years since it snowed in Thailand must be the new Thai downhill water ski team she's joining

[techboy]

She has to qualify and the international ski circuit is rather difficult.

At her advanced age, and lack of long term training, I think she is in fantasy land. Most of the world's Olympic ski team members are in their early 20's and have been skiing since they were able to walk.

All that she may accomplish is injuring or killing herself and opening Thailand up to ridicule.

Hopefully, someone stops this nonsense before she hurts herself. Let her go ski in Austria and make a mess of the slopes there.

Sort of the same risks and injuries that you would sustain running a 10yd dash Some people are lacking in the personal strength and initiative the lady has so do not understand it. Some people may have no perception of the advantages from having been in good physical condition for many years and would tend to be so cynical. Some are just nasty old fots

[whybother]

The only thin Thai we are talking about here is your link to a thread that is so thin it could snap at any minute?

You obviously haven't read the thread. Someone mentioned that she is too old to compete.

[dekestone]

Surprised her management team would allow it. Competitive skiing at that level? A smashed finger and there goes her very lucrative violin career.

[KhunOr]

She made this public announcement in 2010. It's old news. And she's been dating her French ski instructor Lionel for 14 years. Expect she's learned a thing or two about skiing and knows what she's doing.

Oh and guys...she rules out marriage because of fears of divorce. Scarred by her parents' marriage breakdown and subsequent further divorces. Quoted as saying: You don't need a ring to say 'I love you'. She's got her head screwed on.

[Globeman]

She is an exceptional violinist, be great to see her on the slopes.

It's hard to tell how exceptional a violinist she is when the music she plays is overproduced pretentious techno rubbish created solely for the purpose of making money, not art - it isn't exactly challenging stuff for any violinist who was classically trained.

Would be nice to see her on the slopes though, yeah

[Globeman]

Best wishes to you Vanessa.

20 months ago, I petitioned Thai athletic heads re; a similar plight.

I had met two American winter sportswomen who were best friends with each other. One was world-class slalom skier and the other a speed skater of more modest credentials. Both about 21, attractive, cute, without an ounce of fat. I had a bit of correspondence with someone high up in Thai athletics, but he couldn't/didn't grasp opportunity by the forelocks. I even wrote a few letters which were published in the Nation and the Post at that time, on that plight. The US girls were willing to compete for Thailand, if offered Thai passports. It's known that many countries do similar legal things when wanting a person from another country to compete on their side.

Yeah, they're called "ringers" and in the spirit of international competition, it is cheating... surprising then that Thailand didn't jump on that opportunity. "A new way to cheat at something? Count us in!!"

[Buchholz]

She is an exceptional violinist, be great to see her on the slopes.

It's hard to tell how exceptional a violinist she is when the music she plays is overproduced pretentious techno rubbish

[bigbamboo]

Been 57 years since it snowed in Thailand must be the new Thai downhill water ski team she's joining

Doubt it. They can only train in Bangkok in the rainy season.

[Tywais]

She is an exceptional violinist, be great to see her on the slopes.

It's hard to tell how exceptional a violinist she is when the music she plays is overproduced pretentious techno rubbish

Yep, that was the one I was about to post. But of course some members will say that is not real music nor skill either.

[rubl]

No offence, but don't we have a real Thai from somewhere up-North where the mountains are, who is willing and able to represent Thailand at the Winter Olympics? Surely the Olympics committee has selection criteria with 'skill in a specific sport' being a wee bit higher on the list than 'being a nice looking female' ?

[ilyushin]

^{Good news for a change.}

[Tywais]

Surely the Olympics committee has selection criteria with 'skill in a specific sport' being a wee bit higher on the list than 'being a nice looking female' ?

Hardly. She has been skiing since the age of 4 years old and has a home in Zermatt Switzerland for the last 3 years where she is training and has been skiing already. Hardly a neophyte nor unfamiliar with snow, seems a perfect choice for Thailand. For the previous comment about injuring herself see this article.

----------------------------------------

People find it hard to understand how, as a musician, I can risk injuring myself on the slopes, but I’'ve always been a tomboy. As a child I had Transformers and robots. I enjoyed climbing trees and did horse-riding for a while, until my piano teacher, who was married to my riding teacher, put a stop to it.

I was always jealous of my friends who would break their arms riding or skateboarding! When I finally broke my shoulder in 2009, I hopped up and down with joy but all the doctors could say was ‘'what about your career?'’ Even if I'’m not going to be chasing a place on the podium in Sochi, I'’m going to have to go for it because every second counts.

More here - source

[steveromagnino]

Not sure if the story is true; maybe somewhat taken out of context; I do know she is a keen skier though.

Going to the Olympics and racing to win are pretty different.

Reality is that she would need to already be competing in Noram/national level etc now to be top 10, but for sure her fame would allow her to compete on some level on the worldstage even if her size and lack of experience would preclude her from winning / being competitive in Slalom or GS; her biggest issue would not be age alone but rather lack of experience combined with lack of the right body type for those events. I believe the olympics now has a qualification process to eliminate Eddy the Eagle types also so that might stop her going at all; to think of her as a contender is impossible (just due to body type).

Herman Meier competed to 36, and that was despite almost losing his leg. Not sure I would put a recreational skier on the level of the Herminator of course, but this is to say it is possible to be mid 30s and still be able to get down the course respectably!

Having not seen her ski before, if she is a half decent skier she would be aware of how difficult it is to race at a high level and how fit and strong you need to be; reality is that there are plenty of Thais who would have a skill set needed to succeed in snow sports even though Thailand itself has no snow; almost every WC/Olympic skier spends most of the year training outside their own country as they get older (which is how Australia has Olympic ski champions even though the snow season there is very short) but for sure countries with long seasons, a history of skiing/snow sports and loads and loads of kids doing the sports are always going to be 'factories' for producing more champions than countries without. Something like the halfpipe of snowboarding with the strength of wakeboarding for instance.

I do know of at least 1 Thai who has competed in the Winter Olympics in the past, I believe in cross country skiing; so it is certainly possible. But competing against a country where the kids have already done more races by age 15 than an adult has done...obviously the kid is going to have a huge advantage and since skiing is heavily a fitness and technique related sport, time spent racing matters almost more than anything else until you are at the highest level.

As for offering nationality to someone who is not Thai in any way just to win a few medals.....well maybe some countries do this but I don't really think it is a good plan; we have enough prostitutes in Thailand as it is without having sports stars prostituting themselves as well to go and compete.

Technically she has plenty of skills on a violin; she is perfectly capable of playing challenging stuff; it's just that someone figured out packaging her as a sexpot violinist outsells the Horowitz approach to playing the piano (example of my favourite pianist who some of you probably don't know of because he is maybe not quite as easy on the eyes as Vanessa). She opened the way for Bond and others and has helped classical music (it's like classical music lite, and then a few people learn to appreciate real classical music thereafter) and so good on her.

Edited January 22, 2013 by steveromagnino

[belg]

wow, vanessa turned into an issaan look-alike

would not recognize her at all in the streets

[Artisi]

I've been lusting listening to Vanessa for years, superb in many ways, skiing probably not one of them.

[sirchai]

Guess it's a Media summer hole....

[jaapfries]

If she can play the Flakes like she can play the Strings . . . . . . she WILL be a champion in both arenas; Thailand will be proud as punch if she does it !

GO, VM, GO ! !

[Artisi]

The violinist is a British citizen but she also holds a Thai passport. She was born in Singapore to a Chinese mother and a Thai father but she was brought up in England.

Fake!

"Vanessa-Mae was born in Singapore to Vorapong Vanakorn, an English hotelier of Thai descent, and Pamela Soei Luang Tan, a Chinese lawyer and semi-professional concert pianist. After her parents separated, her mother married Graham Nicholson, a British attorney who adopted Vanessa-Mae, and the family moved to England when Vanessa-Mae was four years old. She grew up in London and holds British citizenship. She began playing piano at the age of three and violin at five.^{[1] " Wiki "}

[LoZth]

A very beautiful, she is.

A virtuoso on the violin, she is.

BUT,

can she play

The Devil Came Down To Georgia eh?

(a tongue in cheek smiley needed badly here but I couldn't find one)

[metisdead]

Off topic posts have been removed.

[bangon04]

I guess the reason she is not competing on the British ski team is due to the world class ski facilities, training and coaches that the Thailand winter olympics team has?

Haha.... and the GB Team is so well equipped????? Dream on...

[evadgib]

This is a bit like Vinney Jones decision to play for Wales but i nonetheless wish her luck:)

[RubbaJohnny]

This is a bit like Vinney Jones decision to play for Wales but i nonetheless wish her luck:)

It's all downhill from here

[overherebc]

She has to qualify and the international ski circuit is rather difficult.

At her advanced age, and lack of long term training, I think she is in fantasy land. Most of the world's Olympic ski team members are in their early 20's and have been skiing since they were able to walk.

All that she may accomplish is injuring or killing herself and opening Thailand up to ridicule.

Hopefully, someone stops this nonsense before she hurts herself. Let her go ski in Austria and make a mess of the slopes there.

GK. You REALLY are a kill joy. 34 advanced age

Let her try. If she doesn't make it OK. But let her try. People that have a passion can sometimes surprise.

sent from my Q6

Check how old Graham Hill was when he started motor racing !

[Lotusbluete]

Would love to see her in concert together with Nigel Kennedy and David Garret.

[mickjn]

I'd give er one.

I would give her boyfriend one