A petite restaurant owner in high heels whipped her waiters for turning up late for work.

Furious boss Fah Yuwadee frogmarched the lads to the front of the shop as their horrified colleagues looked on in Pattaya, Thailand, on March 28.

Shocking footage shows how the 5ft tall woman used all of her strength to repeatedly strike one of the staff with a long cane on his back at least 12 times.

Two more male staff were then seen receiving a similar punishment, with the strict boss using both hands to whip the employees as they held their hands in the air. One of them even collapsed on the ground as Fah continued striking him before he was comforted by colleagues.

Footage of the brutal punishment for tardiness at the Fah Sang Mu Kratha pork barbecue restaurant sparked outrage when it emerged online today.

Police are also investigating.

But Fah defended her behaviour and claimed the staff had chosen the punishment instead of being dock wages for turning up late - both of which are illegal punishments under the country's employment law.

She said: 'People should not just judge from the video when they did not hear from everyone involved.

'The kid who was being whipped chose that as his punishment for being late. So did the others.

'None of my staff have had a problem with me doing this. I have a successful restaurant and I don't like staff being late.'

Speaking to local media, one of the waiters seen being struck said some staff chose to be whipped while others chose a fine of five Baht (0.11 GBP) for every minute they were late.

A waitress - an 18-year-old girl - said she had also been whipped for lateness.

She added: 'The boss is normally kind and never hits her employees, but lately, the staff's behaviour has become worse.

'So, she came up with a rule to choose between a fine or being whipped, which we chose to be whipped.

'If we chose the fine penalty, when we received our salary, we would have almost no money left.

'So, she came up with an alternative punishment of whipping, which most of us chose. Everyone who arrived late was punished equally.'

The owner said her restaurant has been open for nine years, with salaries ranging from 7,000 to 8,000 baht for waiters and waitresses and 12,000 baht for chefs.

Police are now investigating the case of alleged abuse.

Officers from the Pattaya City Police Station said that the video appeared to show the boss injuring her staff.

Speaking today, a spokesman said: 'Striking employees with a stick could violate Section 295 of the Thailand Criminal Code, which stipulates that whoever causes injury to another person in body or mind shall be punished with imprisonment not exceeding two years.

'If the doctor says the victims need to stay at the hospital for more than three days, the woman will be charged with physical assault which includes a fine and imprisonment. But if they only need to stay at the hospital for under three days, she will be fined.'