Locals were shocked to see a Thai sex worker in a see-through silk night dress climbing down a building during a police raid in Hong Kong.

The attractive young woman fled from the brothel when cops stormed inside in the Tsim She Tsui district on September 21.

Passers-by watched in broad daylight as she clambered down the window ledges before hanging from an air conditioning unit and dropping to the ground.

Despite her daredevil stunt, the sex worker's attempt to escape capture failed and police arrested her shortly after she landed as residents called the officers for help.

Police later found that the person in the revealing nightgown was a 30-year-old Thai transgender woman who entered the country on a tourist visa and was working illegally in the seedy sex den servicing wealthy local men.

She had been working when officers entered the building and fled in her work clothes.

Hong Kong police said at the time they were conducting an anti-pornography operation with the help of the immigration department. Thai woman now make up a large part of the sex industry in the former British trading port.

Organised Crime and Triad Bureau Superintendent Lui Sihao said: ‘We were carrying out an arrest operation when she climbed out of the window. She was arrested for violating the law.'

The agile transwoman was apparently uninjured but she was taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in an ambulance for a health check.

Authorities said they started an operation against prostitution early this year. Investigation shows that some syndicates went to Southeast Asian countries to recruit women for prostitution in Hong Kong.

The syndicate group reportedly provides a one-stop service that includes arranging a plane to Hong Kong, a place for quarantine, and also transportation to send them to a hotel in an urban area for prostitution.

Superintendent Lui added: ‘They also do visa extensions, arrange photographers to take sexy pictures, and advertise them online. These prostitutes who come to Hong Kong have to pay the syndicate for air tickets, quarantine, and also a certain amount of commission to the syndicate.'

Police also said that the syndicate would switch between different units and hotels to avoid being caught by officers.

Several units on the ground floor and the second floor of the building had been raided by police. A total of eight men and 17 women aged between 21 to 41 were arrested on suspicion of illegal entry and violating the condition of stay.

Officers also seized 100,000 yuan in cash, a private car suspected of being used to transport prostitutes, and a several electronics.