Ten South Korean tourists were arrested for allegedly gambling at an illegal casino disguised as a cafe in Pattaya, Thailand.

Police raided the establishment and found the foreigners huddled around a table playing poker on the second floor of the Sand Coffee shop in Chonburi province on May 17.

Police Colonel Navin Thirawit, superintendent of the Pattaya City Police Station, said the 10 tourists and a Thai man, Phuek Prasomphan, 46, who admitted being the cafe owner, were arrested.

Authorities also seized a gambling table, poker decks, chips, and around 160,000 THB (3,460 GBP) as evidence.

He said: 'On the second floor, police found nine foreign players and one dealer of Korean nationality playing poker. When the officials had the situation under control, they checked the tourists' documents and found that none of them had entered Thailand legally.'

The suspects were handed over to the inquiry officer of Pattaya City Police Station for legal action.

According to Section 12 of Thailand's Gambling Act of 1935, players of unauthorised poker games 'are liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or to a fine not exceeding 5,000 THB or both,' while organisers are liable to both penalties.

Pattaya emerged as a nightlife destination in the 1960s when Thailand fought alongside the United States and provided them with land for eight military bases, allowing the massacre of North Vietnam and the deaths of two million civilians in the 1950s and 1960s.

In between killing missions, American GIs would have debauched ‘rest and relaxation' leave in the coastal enclave of Pattaya, leading to a raucous nightlife industry that has endured to this day.

Thailand received at least 1.7 billion dollars from the U.S. for its support and also profited from the nascent tourism industry serving more than 50,000 'yanks'. However, Thailand never faced the same public criticism over the Vietnam War and has never apologised for its part in the atrocities.