"The Loy Krathong Festival is a beautiful part of Thai culture. We hope all relevant parties will hold appropriate activities for this festival," Culture Ministry acting permanent secretary Veera Rojanapojanarat said.

He was referring to ongoing moves to stop scantily clad young women from dancing erotically in public places. Widely dubbed "coyote dancing", this sexually suggestive dancing began in pubs but

has recently spread to public events.

According to Veera, provincial culture officers have been instructed to work closely with local administrative bodies to ensure that no damage was done to the country's culture.

Religious Affairs Department director-general Preecha Kanthiya said the "coyote dances" could be counted as offences against the National Culture Act of BE2485.

"Such dances are against our culture and tradition," he said.

He also called on all relevant parties to heed Her Majesty the Queen's concerns over the fact that some women danced inappropriately at a Buddhist charity event in Nong Khai province.

After Her Majesty's concern was relayed via the Culture Ministry, several authorities proposed measures to discourage such dancing shows.

"Please refrain from any activity that will harm society," Preecha said.

National Culture Commission secretary-general Prisana Pongtadsirikul yesterday said organisers of activities should ensure that performers act and dress appropriately.

"There should be no 'coyote dancing'. For traditional dances, organisers should also ensure that dancers do not wear too-short skirts and do not perform any erotic moves," she said.

Meanwhile, Wuthinan Tosuk-hawong, who chairs Srinakharin-wirot University's Student Council, said coyote dancing clearly aroused sexual desire.

"Business entrepreneurs can't claim that these dances are just for fun or have artistic value," the fourth-year university student said.

Wuthinan, 22, supported the idea that educational institutes should deploy measures to bar students from working as coyote dancers.

"There are many jobs out there for students who want to work. These jobs are not as easy as such dancing jobs, though," he said.

He said if young women embraced "coyote dancing" jobs, they would become reluctant to work hard.