Delivery man emerges first Thai winner of Subaru Palm Challenge

It was that time of the year for Motor Image, the regional distributor of Subaru vehicles, to conduct the regional finals of the much-anticipated “Last Palm Standing-Mediacorp Subaru Car Challenge.”

Despite the simple rules, the competition was very difficult to win. As in the previous years, contestants were to use their hand to hold a palm print sticker positioned on various locations of a Subaru car and hold on as long as they can without lifting their palms. The hours are long and they are subject to the scorching heat from the sun and sometimes occasional rainshowers become a welcome respite.

This year, Siripong Toosadee from Thailand emerged the winner of the Last Palm Standing-Mediacorp Subaru Car Challenge. He clocked an impressive time of 76 hours, 55 minutes and 5 seconds in this year’s edition of the iconic urban endurance challenge. The 41-year-old delivery driver succeeded in his fifth attempt and won a brand-new Subaru Forester 2.0i-L worth 1.33 million Thai bath (equivalent to P2.23 million). He also received an additional 5,000 Singapore dollars as the last contestant of the Thai contingent left standing.

Aside from participants from Singapore, eight countries including China, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines had team representatives vying for the coveted title. And to celebrate the first-ever win by a Thai contestant, Motor Image announced that it will have a “Siripong Last Palm Standing Offer,” a promo entitling all of its Thai customers who will purchase a Subaru Forester or Subaru XV to receive 9,999 Thai bath worth of fuel vouchers. This is in addition to all existing offers and takes immediate effect, and covers all bookings and deliveries for the month of November.

The last few contestants endured four days battling fatigue and high humidity under the scorching sun and as a passing shower of rain on the last day, Siripong was visibly emotional when he was crowned the winner.

Now on its 18th year, this urban endurance competition was conquered by a Thai participant for the first time. Siripong said: “I entered this competition to prove myself, to challenge myself. Though I’m physically exhausted, I am extremely happy to have won, after pushing myself beyond the limit for four days. I want to thank my supporters for cheering me on. I am truly grateful to them. I am also very much looking forward to driving my new Subaru with my family and friends. For now, I would like to buy a cup of iced milk tea to celebrate my win.”

With the heat and changing temperatures caused by a passing thunderstorm, their bodies are taking on so much stress but for safety reasons, the contest was suspended for 40 minutes during the thunderstorm. It was a tough fight till the end for Siripong who faced Luu Van Quoc from Vietnam. The 29-year-old self-employed Vietnamese emerged as the first runner-up and won 1,000 Singapore dollars as the Region Winner. Coming in third was 54-year-old Singaporean nurse Ms Mazlinah Ahmad who clocked 76 hours and 9 minutes.

The competition was held on Nov. 2 at the Ngee Ann City Civic Plaza, along Orchard Road, and attracted over 400 contestants from nine regions. 320 of the contestants were from Singapore.

The Philippines team did quite well, which bagged the title of Regional Team Winner and 10,000 Singapore dollars with the longest standing time (combined timings of all 10 representatives from the same region) of a whopping 424 hours and 54 minutes. The last standing representative from each region also won 1,000 Singapore dollars each. Joaquin Ireneo Fabros of the Philippine contingent took that award with a total time of 64 hours and 51 minutes.

Glenn Tan, Deputy Chairman and Managing Director of Tan Chong International Limited (the holding company that owns Motor Image) and Ms. Debra Soon, Head of Group Corporate Management of Tan Chong International Limited awarded the prizes to the winners.

“Congratulations to Siripong from Thailand for his unstoppable spirit. Siripong pushed past his physical and mental limits to show what it is like to be a Subaru winner! I hope he will continue to inspire others and that he enjoys his new Subaru car! I would also like to thank Mediacorp for nearly two decades of partnership. After 18 years, we are still looking for ways to further improve the competition and do better every year,” said Ms. Soon.