A record label is defending its decision to sign up the Wonder Gays, a group of five secondary students famous for a YouTube cover of a Wonder Girls song.

'Focus on their work, not who they are,’ says record company Zheza, of the entertainment giant RS Promotion, which has signed up the fifth-form students to make a single.

The students, from select-entry Taweethapisek School in Bangkok Yai, are an internet sensation. A YouTube clip of them dancing and lip-synching to the Wonder Girls hit, Nobody, has been viewed more than 1.5 million times.

The boys, wearing uniform, filmed the tribute video in front of their school where students line up for the flag ceremony every day.

In May, the record label signed up the 15-year-olds as artists, three months after their clip was posted at YouTube. Their first single, a pop song aimed at teens, comes out next month.

Current affairs host Sorrayuth Suthassanachinda invited them on his television show to explain their success.

'We love that song by the Wonder Girls. First they came along, then the Wonder Boys [a spin-off Korean boyband] formed - now we are the Wonder Gays,' they declared.

‘Hasn’t Sorrayuth anything better to do? The media already gives too much attention to gays,’ Thais complained on webboards.

Some parents are worried that their offspring will follow the boys' example. Most reaction, however, is positive.

Sorrayuuth asked if anyone at the all-boys school had objected to them acting the girl in front of the hallowed Thai flag.

'No one - we filmed the performance one day when school was closed,' they replied.

The students are solid achievers academically, with a grade point average of 3 or above. 'We are not hooked on games. After school, we do our homework,' they said.

'The school says it is a good thing that we make good use of our spare time, rather than making trouble.'

Critics say Zheza is exploiting young people for its own ends. However, the record label is asking Thais to look at their accomplishments, not at the students themselves.

‘While some Thais probably have doubts, we support young people doing productive activities. Don't criticise them for who they are, or their appearance.

'Look at their work, and their determination to do well,' a spokesman told the Siam Dara gossip rag.

Watch the clip here.