A tourist sparked fury by boasting how he shot protected fish with a spear and then posed with them on a boat.

The holidaymaker, who has not been identified, is believed to have caught the eel, three parrot fish and two others while hunting on a trip around Koh Phi Phi island in Krabi, southern Thailand.

Footage shows him posing shirtless on a wooden longtail boat with a knife through the gills of the eel and the five other specimens strung up with a metal cable. He had a black holster around his right calf, believed to be the kind used by divers to carry knives.

The man, who is believed to be a personal trainer, wrote online that he had been 'spear fishing' and 'dived 30 metres down to catch these'.

Outraged locals branded the tourist 'thoughtless' and reported the incident to the government's wildlife officials, who began searching for the tourist and boat captain today August 11.

One local complained: ‘Catching animals in the National Park area is wrong, how can he catch parrotfish that are protected animals? Parrotfish are very important to the marine ecosystem.'

Another added: 'This is thoughtless and self-centred. The fish could not do anything to protect themselves when someone is there with a spear.'

Many other residents called for the foreigner to be punished along with the captain for not warning the tourist.

National Park officials are now searching for the man in the video. They said they have coordinated with other environmental agencies to inspect the area the boat captain that took the tourist on the trip.

Ratchada Suriyakul Na Ayutthaya, Director-General of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation said: ‘After coming across the video and seeing many complaints online, we have already ordered officials to investigate the foreigner.

‘We prohibit such actions as it is against the National Park Act. If found guilty, the person shall be liable to imprisonment of not more than five years or a fine of not more than 20,000 baht, or both.'

The wildlife chief said officers had already identified the name of the boat. They are now tracing its owner.

A National Park spokesman said in a statement released online that the video appeared to show that the tourist had broken at least five laws regarding the protection of marine animals.

It includes 'taking out, or doing anything to harm natural resources, or doing any other actions that affect the ecosystem biodiversity and natural resources and environment without permission from the competent official'.

Another accusation that the organisation included in their statement was that it was an offence to 'bring tools for hunting or capturing animals or any weapons into a National Park without permission from the competent official'.

The National Parks statement added: 'The parrotfish has a beautiful appearance and colour, therefore, people catch it for food, causing the parrot fish population to decline. There is an impact on the overall ecosystem of the sea and in that area, it will be very unbalanced. More corals will die or recover more slowly.'

In 2018, six French tourists were charged with trapping and killing rare sea animals after they caught parrotfish under the country's Environmental Protection Act 2535.

The biggest threat to parrotfish comes from overfishing by commercial trawlers.