A teenage Thai music star's eye-popping dance moves have enraged the country's military leader Prayut Chan-o-cha.
Country music singer Lamyai Haithongkham, known for her signature "Nine
Levels" twerking routine, has become a sensation in her homeland thanks
to the kind of gyrating move that might even make US pop star Miley
Cyrus pause for thought.
The Prime Minister has asked the public and media to warn the teenager about her suggestive dance moves and scanty outfits.
When asked if he would instruct the Culture Ministry to caution the young rising star, Prayut said:
"I want people and the media to warn her. I don't know what to do. People like this style of performance and dressing".
Now the 18-year-old has agreed to tone down her moves after coming under fire from the junta leader.
"When I talk to my friends, I joke that we will have to reduce her twerks from nine to three," Lamyai's manager Prachakai Naowarat, told AFP on Wednesday (June 14).
"But yes, after the prime minister mentioned her name we will tone down her dance moves and her wardrobe."Lamyai's onstage antics and skimpy outfits have won legions of fans. Web clips of her performances have racked up more than 240 million views in the last six months.
In less than a week, Prayut Chan-ocha has brought up Lamyai's dance
moves with the press on three separate occasions, blasting the singer
for her skimpy clothing and suggesting that foreigners are to blame for
encouraging such lewdness.
"Just because foreigners are doing it doesn't mean we have to," Prayut told reporters in his first tirade on Friday June 9.
"The way she dances, she's about to show all her genitals already. I don't want to talk about it, people will say I'm crazy. But I want everyone to help solve this problem."
He brought up the singer's dance moves again on Monday (June 12) and Tuesday (June 13), although he appeared mollified once told the young star would be more demure in future.
Lamyai sings "luk thung" songs, a country music genre that has come to
blend traditional lyrics about love and poverty with eye-catching dance
moves and outfits.
"I don't think her dance moves are unacceptable to Thai people if people think it's entertainment," manager Prachakai said, adding Michael Jackson and South Korean pop sensation Psy were also known for their gyrations.
Since seizing power three years ago, Prayut has become renowned for his
off-the-cuff tirades, often aimed at how women dress or behave.
When two British backpackers were murdered in late 2014, one of the
victims raped before she was killed, Prayut suggested pretty foreigners
should avoid wearing bikinis, comments he later apologised for.
He has also previously stated that gender equality would "deteriorate"
society and likened women who wear too little clothing to unwrapped
candies.
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