BANGKOK – Thailand vowed on May 6 to tighten oversight of tourists’ behaviour after a series of incidents involving foreigners caught having sex in public, warning they damaged the country’s image.

Tourism is vital to the South-east Asian nation’s economy but foreign arrivals are yet to return to their pre-Covid highs.

Visitors displaying “inappropriate behaviour”, including illicit drug use, would face prosecution as it “contradicts the beautiful culture of Thailand”, the prime minister’s office said in a statement.

The pledge followed an incident on the evening of May 4 on the southern island of Phuket where a couple was found performing a sexual act in a tuk-tuk in a popular tourist area.

The authorities said they were working to revoke the visas of a 41-year-old Spanish man and a 43-year-old Peruvian woman, and then deport and blacklist them.

The pair admitted to the act and were charged under public indecency laws, the government statement said.

Public nudity and sexual acts in public are punishable by a fine up to 5,000 baht (S$197).

The clampdown was “intended to safeguard Thailand’s beautiful cultural values”, according to the prime minister’s office.

Checks by the authorities of entertainment venues would also be stricter, it added.

Despite its reputation as a sex tourism destination, Thailand is a mostly socially conservative society where public displays of affection are frowned upon.

But the country also