Mai and Oliver - Thailand

Oliver started out as a friend of her brother, and Mai first got to know him when she was dating one of his friends. Fate threw them together, but not in any romantic way, but as best friends.

In a way, actress and model Visa Sarasas, or Mai, as she is known to her friends, is the one person that Oliver Faivre can behave naturally in front of.

"She is the only girl friend that I have who I can talk normally to," says the 26 year old model and student, adding, "She is someone I don't necessarily have to be polite to."

Such honestly is the culmination of seven years of friendship and the friends have decided to celebrate by taking part in the race simply because Mai asked and Oliver agreed.

"I picked him because I think he has the most potential to go on this race and be able to cope with all the situations that will happen," describes the actress, who has made a name of herself starring in movies and television shows in Thailand.

In case you think of her as a celebrity who is more used to assistants and an entourage of helpers, think again. For her audition video, Mai simply tied up her hair (sans make up!) to speak to the camera, and in fact, her real life persona is nothing like her sultry on-screen roles on TV and magazine covers.

She proclaims, "I joined The Amazing Race Asia because I want to travel around the world and compete with myself."

Given the history of male/female pairings in race history that have led to explosive confrontations during the competition, Mai is thankful that her team does not fall within the usual stereotypes of such pair ups.

"The fact that my teammate is a guy, and we're not in a relationship so I don't think we're going to fight like lovers do," she says as a matter of fact.

"I have a very strong teammate and I think I'm a very strong girl as well. Our weakness would probably have to be the fact that we have never worked together as a team so I cannot predict what's going to happen when we do."

Assure Oliver, "You don't have to worry about the fighting. We fight a lot, but it's for fun. We will make the show interesting."

Not that it matter to Oliver, who is looking at the race as more of a chance to meet new people, and maybe do something for a good cause.

SOURCE: http://amazing-race-asia.axn-asia.com/season3/teams/mai-oliver/index.html