The world's biggest transsexual beauty contest kicked off Friday in the Thai beach town of Pattaya, with 24 contenders for a title that Thais take every bit as seriously as a traditional pageant.

The 24 contestants were to perform in a talent competition late Friday, and 10 finalists then vie for the honor of being named Miss International Queen 2006, taking home the $10,000 prize Saturday night.

"This is a unique event. No one does this in the world except for us," said Alisa Phanthusak, chairwoman of the Miss International Queen committee.

Today's pageant will be nationally televised, and also broadcast by satellite internationally. More than 25 million viewers in Thailand, out of a population of 65 million people, were expected to watch, organizers said.

Contestants from as far away as the United States, Mexico, Egypt and Australia will join beauty queens from Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines and Japan to compete in the third annual Miss International Queen.

Rathawee Jerraprapakul is representing Thailand at this year's pageant, and is determined to bring the title back home after the Southeast Asian nation lost the crown last year to American Mimi Marks.

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