Southeast Asia’s second most-visited country vows strict tourist oversight after public sex incidents

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

Visitors displaying “inappropriate behavior”, including illicit drug use, would face prosecution as it “contradicts the beautiful culture of Thailand”, the prime minister’s office said in a statement on May 6.

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 (US$155).

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 decriminalized cannabis in 2022 and is popular among backpackers and young tourists for its rowdy beach raves.

In April, a French couple was arrested and deported after footage of both having sex on a Phuket beach spread widely online, according to local media.

Another couple from France was blacklisted and had their visa revoked after a video of the pair having sex in a tuk-tuk in Phuket earlier this year triggered outrage online.

Thailand expects about 33.5 million foreign tourists in 2026, up from nearly 33 million visitors in 2025, the government has said.

Total tourist arrivals dropped 7% in April compared to the same month in 2025, with visitors from Europe declining nearly 16% that month, according to tourism ministry figures.

The first quarter number reached 9.3 million, a 2.3% year-on-year decrease, making Thailand the second most visited country in Southeast Asia, after Malaysia which attracted 10.6 million tourists between January and March.