Thailand Bars "Coyote Ugly" Dancers As Religiously Offensive

In Thailand, the Culture Ministry has banned dancers known as Coyote Girls from dancing in public, particularly near Buddhist temples. The dancers are named after the 2000 U.S. film "Coyote Ugly" about a group of young women who dance seductively on a New York City bar top. Similar dancers began to be featured in Bangkok night clubs, and then began to appear at shopping malls, outdoor festivals and at businesses to promote their products. The Associated Press in a story carried widely over the last few days by U.S. papers reports that Queen Sirikit has ordered a ban after Coyote Girls appeared at a motorcycle shop in mid-October in the northeastern province of Nong Khai. Their performance was near a Buddhist temple that was holding a festival to mark the end of the Buddhist Lent-- a 3-month period devoted to study and meditation.