Nguyen Van Son is making a strong impression on judges in the Mister Global 2015 male beauty pageant underway in Thailand.

Nguyen Van Son

Son, 21, a tall 1.93m and a professional Taekwondo athlete who won the gold medal at the national sports games 2014, is widely tipped to win this year's title.

He surprised the judges when, for the traditional costumes round, he wore a military uniform, though he plans to wear Vietnam's traditional long dress with a dragon motiff for the finals on March 7.

Son during a photo shooting for the traditional customs show

Mister Global is a male beauty pageant now in its second year. Myat Thuya Lwin from Myanmar beat competitors from 16 countries in 2014.

Son will be facing contestants from 19 other countries -- Venezuela, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Peurto Rico in the US, the Philippines, Peru, Myanmar, Malaysia, Lybia, South Korea, Chile, Brazil, Czech Republic, Indonesia, India, Cambodia, France, Australia, and Latvia.

Venezuela

Thailand

Srilanka

Peurto Rico

Philippines

Peru

Myanmar

Malaysia

Liberia

South Korea

Chile

Brazil

Czech Republic

Indonesia

India

Campuchia

France

Australia

Latvia