Article here and video of exchange here. He spoke to her like she was a piece of shit IN FRONT OF ALL HER COLLEAGUES AND CAMERAS. Unacceptable, inexcusable behaviour from him and I'm so glad her sisters stood up for her!
Who here would have walked out too?
I'm not even sure about wanting to degrade her. He's a Thai executive. Traditionally women are supposed to defer to men there, and I get the impression that he wasn't even thinking about the pageant women as people, more like products he's supposed to be showcasing. So initially he's upset when he doesn't get the deference / obeisance he's unconsciously expecting, doubles-down on that, doubles down again when he gets pushback, and then is flabbergasted when his "product" starts to disobediently walk out.
He doesn't see women as equals so he's flummoxed when his gender norms are repeatedly challenged, and he doesn't see the pageant women as people, just product. It's also really interesting to me how frustrated and bewildered he is in that "apology" video, like, "why is no one listening to me, to my side of the event, naturally everyone should be siding with me and not those foolish women!"
With that attitude, he should never have been allowed within a hundred miles of the pageant - and it doesn't bode well that none of the people in charge of the Thai competition never realized that. I fully expect the replacement to be overly obsequious to the women, with the entire Thai organization angrily muttering among themselves in the background about how unnecessary this all is and women should just know their place ... /: