A quartet of skirt-clad Thai guys who called themselves “Hot” performed at a mookata restaurant over the weekend. Bangkok was here, but perhaps not quite with a bang

Four of them were hardly raining men. But, the appearance of the foursome at the Thai yaniniku eatery Mr Mookata in Liang Seah Street this weekend was torrential enough to attract a crowd that thronged the already busy roadway on most nights with even more people, like the packed meats on the kratha from which the name of the dish is derived. Although commonly known here as mookata, in Thailand, it is mu kratha (หมูกระทะ)—mu is the pork and kratha the skillet on which the meats are quickly cooked. To be sure, the beefy performers, who call themselves Hot Thai Guys, are a lot meatier than what you’ll get for a typical mookata. And that is perhaps why they are such a draw: touchable muscles rather than grilled sinews. Mr Mookata, as it turns out, is also Mr Marketing.

When they appeared—right in the middle of the dinners’ meals, peering sheepishly from the entrance that leads to the upper floor of the shop house, those eating were visibly delighted. The guys hip-swayed/thrusted their way among tables to cheesy dance music, and mingled with the dinners, who were mostly too happy to be interrupted from their free-flow (buffet) meal. The feasting was clearly elsewhere. What was surprising was how physical the show was and the extent of the touching between performers and patrons. Women were allowed to feel the guys’ chests and abs, and the dancers were allowed to hold the shoulders of the women as they rocked them (or mimic copulation), while the male diners get hugs around the shoulder. It is not clear if this interactive act was allowed in the F&B establishment and its surroundings, but it did not seem that anyone minded.

To be sure, this is not an erotic male revue (at least not here)—but a loutish yet comical one. The men were togged as if ready for work at a drag go go bar. And the campy performance made this month’s getai look tame. Each of them were fitted in a uniform that coffee shop beer-sellers would envy: cropped singlet emblazoned with the letters and symbols that say “I love Mr Mookata”. This was paired with a pleated plaid pink mini-skirt. It was Chatuchak meets Patpong meets Platinum Mall. They look “cute”, some in the audience said, but definitely not as wacky as when they dance back home—in women’s negligee or, sometimes, Thai aunties’ housecoat. And the act in the Bugis area was not as bawdy as the performance in Bangkok, in the restaurant Staneemeehoi (owned by two of the dancers, Wow and Dee), sited at the Hua Mum Market that is mostly frequented by locals. There, the men really let loose. Nothing is quite off the somtum-filled tables.

Interestingly, the gang of four are no sweet young things. The oldest among them is 40, and the youngest, 32. All of them claimed to be unmarried. Their spoken English is comprehensible (Thai accent intact, even the sibilance); they speak mandarin too. And all were happy to oblige with any question thrown at them or the endless requests for selfies/wefies. Although they claimed they are unschooled in dance, they shook, wiggled, and twerked with as much conviction and flair as the dance participants of America’s Got Talent. One elderly lady watching from the street was heard commenting in Hokkein, “wah, gau tiao, hor (they sure can dance)!” For three nights, we got entertainment that under most circumstances would be considered way too PG for a weekend, makan-hunting crowd at Bugis to handle. Yet the guys were not only cheered on, their high-energy dancing and touching were reciprocated. Have we finally become more open? If not to sexualised—even if jokey—performances, at least men in skirts?

Screen shot: mrmookata/Instagram