Near naked beauties offend Thais

Photos of bikini-clad Miss Universe contestants posing in front of a revered Buddhist temple have been removed from the pagaent's Web site.

Photos of bikini-clad Miss Universe contestants posing in front of a revered Buddhist temple have been removed from the pageant's Web site after the Thai government complained that the pictures were offensive.

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The controversial images will also be edited out of a film to be shown during the globally televised final of the competition on May 31 in Bangkok, one of the pageant organizers said on condition of anonymity. Women from 81 countries are vying for the Miss Universe title.

The photos that caused offense featured some of the pageant hopefuls wearing swimsuits on a boat in Bangkok's Chao Phraya river with Wat Arun _ the famous Temple of the Dawn _ in the background. "This is against the way of life and beliefs of Buddhists and we strongly disagree with it," said Preecha Gunteeya, secretary general of the Culture Ministry's religious affairs department. Preecha said that if the pageant organizers wanted to promote Thailand, "they should ask the contestants to wear Thai traditional costumes" when posing by the temple.

Thailand hopes that hosting the pageant will boost the country's tourism sector, which was badly hurt by last December's tsunami. It estimates that the event and related activities will generate more than 2.1 billion baht (US$54.6 million; euro41.6 million) of revenue.