Thai Furious Over Buddha G-Strings

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BANGKOK, May 30 (Reuters) An American Web site offering G-string underwear and T-shirts for dogs emblazoned with picture of Buddha dropped them from its sales list today after protests by predominantly Buddhist Thailand.

''It is a good thing they understand our sensitivity,'' Foreign Ministry spokesman Piriya Khempon said a day after saying the products sold on California-based on-line store CafePress.com had offended Thais and Buddhists elsewhere.

The site sells more than 70 items, ranging from T-shirts to teddy bears to beer pitchers bearing pictures of religious figures and philosophers from Hindu god Shiva to Jesus Christ and Mahatma Gandhi.

Although the site removed advertisements for Buddha G-strings and dog T-shirts, items depicting Jesus and Shiva remained.

About 90 per cent of the 64 million people in Thailand, where dogs are regarded as inferior beings, are Buddhist.