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Public sex by tourists in Thailand’s Pattaya sparks call for misconduct clampdown
Police are known to have traditionally closed an eye to the city’s sex trade and its fringe activities but are now tightening enforcement
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Asia travel | Tourism | Crime
SCMP’s Asia desk
Published: 6:06pm, 27 Feb 2025Updated: 6:15pm, 27 Feb 2025
Locals in Thailand’s Pattaya are seeing red over public sex acts by tourists, prompting calls for awareness of proper conduct from visitors in the holiday hotspot.
The latest incident involved a foreign couple who were allegedly having sex in the open on Kratinglay beach, according to local media over the weekend.
A witness, an 18-year-old man known only by the pseudonym Bew, told reporters he had noticed the duo when he was relaxing on the beach with friends.
He added there were other visitors on the sand but the couple seemed unfazed even after he urged them to stop.
“I did not expect that anyone would dare to have sex on the beach with so many people around. It was shocking to me. They should go to a hotel for that,” he was quoted by Thaiger, a bilingual news outlet, as saying.
Penalties for public sex in Thailand vary from 500 baht (US$15) to prison sentences, according to Pattaya Mail. Foreigners caught may also face repatriation.
Tourists on Jomtien beach, near Pattaya. Photo: Shutterstock
Pattaya, famed for its red-light district, has been plagued by problems of indecent tourist behaviour and beachside prostitution.
In December, Thai media reported that a Chinese man and a local woman, both in their 50s, were arrested on suspicion of having sex in the waters off Jomtien beach in the city.
The couple reportedly engaged in intercourse for more than half an hour despite repeated warnings from bystanders, and police took action after receiving multiple complaints.
Authorities have traditionally adopted a relaxed approach to the sex industry in Pattaya, with the city relying heavily on tourism to generate income and its seedy reputation a draw for foreign visitors, according to Pattaya Mail.
But police were gradually changing their attitude, the newspaper noted.
Pattaya law enforcement shut down a prostitution ring comprising 20 foreign women on December 27 last year, local media reported.
The women, aged between 26 and 51 and from various central Asian and African countries, admitted they had flown into Thailand to offer sex services to foreign men.
Under Thai laws, prostitution is a crime punishable by life imprisonment.
Thailand
This Week in AsiaHealth & Environment
‘Zombie cigarettes’: Thai authorities warn of deadly drug-laced vapes
The e-cigarettes contain the narcotic etomidate, an anaesthetic agent that is potentially fatal
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SCMP’s Asia desk
Published: 8:29pm, 26 Feb 2025Updated: 8:36pm, 26 Feb 2025
The Thai government has warned young people to remain vigilant against the rising threat of a new form of narcotic, dubbed “zombie cigarettes”, which combines e-cigarettes with the dangerous drug etomidate.
Anukul Prueksanusak, deputy spokesman for the Prime Minister’s Office, said on Monday that authorities had seized a significant quantity of the newly developed drug and pledged to intensify their crackdown against it.
Authorities said in a statement released the same day that zombie cigarettes are primarily circulating in nightlife areas but are also being illegally sold online and in social settings. The statement warned the public not to be deceived by claims that they are safe to use.
What makes zombie cigarettes so dangerous is their use of etomidate, an anaesthetic agent that can cause severe drowsiness, reduced breathing rates and even death in some cases, according to the statement.
“There is no way to know what substances the seller intentionally mixed in or how much [narcotics are contained],” Anukul added.
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Why are Chinese tourists wary of going to Thailand and has it become a dangerous place to travel?
Why are Chinese tourists wary of going to Thailand and has it become a dangerous place to travel?
Anukul also called on parents to closely monitor their children’s behaviour for warning signs, such as spending large amounts of money, being drowsy for large parts of the day and isolating themselves in their rooms.
Authorities went further, warning that e-cigarettes themselves pose significant health risks that are only compounded when mixed with narcotics like etomidate.
“The more drugs and other substances that are mixed in, the more dangerous it becomes,” the statement read.
The warnings come in the wake of troubling reports of severe health problems linked to vaping in Thailand.
The Nation, a Thai English-language newspaper, reported on Friday that a rescue worker in southeastern Thailand had transported three students to the hospital, on separate occasions, after they experienced chest pain and shortness of breath from vaping.
A 15-year-old student from the same area died in January from complications related to prolonged e-cigarette use.
E-cigarettes mixed with etomidate, which is also known as “space oil”, as well as other sedatives, have been banned in Hong Kong since mid-February.
Authorities there recorded 69 cases involving such drugs and seized 5kg (11lbs) of vape cartridges or liquids containing narcotics between last year and January.
During the same time period, Hong Kong’s law enforcement agencies intercepted 400 grams of powdered chemicals similar to etomidate.
‘Zombie cigarettes’: Thai authorities warn of deadly drug-laced vapes | South China Morning Post
