An Italian tourist was arrested at an airport for allegedly masturbating while riding his motorcycle in Thailand.

Andrea Sorrentino, 49, was detained for exposing his genitals in the middle of traffic in 'sex capital' Pattaya on December 24.

Revolted motorist Prateep Thongkam, 34, was taking his family to a park when he noticed the obscene sight.

The local recorded the man straddling a motorcycle while fiddling with his manhood as he was waiting in traffic. He submitted the clip to cops to help them track down the errant holidaymaker.

Cops finally caught Andrea at the departure area of the Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok on December 26.

Police Colonel Nawin Sinthurat, Bang Lamung police superintendent, said: 'The man has admitted to being the person in the video. He will be charged with committing indecent acts in public.'

Andrea had entered Thailand on September 29 on a tourist visa. He was staying in the Nong Prue municipality before his arrest.

Following negotiations with police, he was fined 3,000 THB (around 87 USD) and later released without being sent to court.

Officers said have kept a record of Andrea's misdeed and will revoke his visa if he commits a similar crime in the future.

The bizarre act came as notorious Sin City Pattaya was packed with holidaymakers with travel restrictions removed for the first time since March 2020.

Military top brass from Bangkok have been trying for several years to clean up the notorious 'sex capital' of the world - branded a modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah - to turn it into a family-friendly resort.

However, they face an uphill struggle against its entrenched 24-hour sex industry and endemic corruption that allows it to continue unabated. The bars - which function as shop windows for prostitutes - along with massage parlours and street workers are also a lucrative part of the tourism industry, which before the pandemic accounted for 21 percent of Thailand's annual GDP, generating 1.8 trillion baht (52.3 billion USD) in revenue.