Coyotes bite back

As the controversy over so-called coyote dancers continues to rage in Bangkok, the 'coyotes' themselves are biting back. The girls who dance in Bangkok's growing number of coyote-dancing venues have hit out at a group of 'impostors' who gave their trade a bad name by performing sexy moves near a temple during a recent religious ceremony.

In case you missed last week's column, coyote dancing has become extremely popular all over the Land of Smiles, and especially in the capital. The girls wear more clothes than their sisters who prance around chrome poles in go-go bars, but their dancing is generally more skilled and vigorous. And, say aficionados, it's much sexier. The name and the moves are derived from the hit movie Coyote Ugly, about a group of young female bartenders with a penchant for shaking their stuff on countertops.

The furore erupted when Queen Sirikit saw a troupe of scantily clad coyote girls bumping and grinding on television, near a temple. This was during the Buddhist Lent period - a time of abstinence and reflection for the devout. When the queen voiced her displeasure, state agencies led by the Culture Ministry almost fell over themselves in their rush to crack down on the practice. A minimum age for erotic dancers, and other strict controls, are still being considered. However, Bangkok's coyotes have blasted those upcountry dancers as fakes, and say they shouldn't give coyotes a bad name by dancing erotically in public places. One Bangkok dancer, Yok, 25, told a local newspaper: 'Those are not coyote dancers like us. We know what kind of jobs we can accept or reject.'

According to Yok, 'real' coyote dancers take pride in their work and only unleash their moves in clubs and bars, where patrons know what to expect. 'I studied for two years as a dancer, and it's a good living. I make 20,000 baht [HK$4,260] a month, and some girls make even more. And you know some of that goes to support our families.'

She said knee-jerk moves to crack down on coyotes would hurt not just the dancers, but their families as well. 'It's hard work up there,' she said. 'I'd like to see the culture minister dance on a bar top for four hours a night. We're not doing anything wrong, and we give a lot of people a good time.'

While liberal commentators have dismissed the issue as one of Thailand's frequent 'moral panics' - teenage sex, underage drinking and violent computer games have all had their day in recent years - more officials are coming down against the coyotes.