This is the shocking moment a tourist drove along a beach - to let his children get a closer view of the sea.

Prasopchok Tamwong, 39, was fined for driving his black Toyota across the sand on Kamala Beach in Phuket, Thailand, on April 1.

Footage shows the driver manoeuvring along the sand and accelerating close to the water. This led the beach operators and lifeguards to chase him away.

Prasopchok said that when he arrived at the beach, he saw a pickup truck pulling a jet ski, and thought that it was legal to drive on the area. He claimed that he did not know it was illegal and just wanted his children to see the ocean.

He said: 'I didn't know I was doing anything wrong. I wanted my children to see the sea. I thought it was fine for cars to drive on the beach.'

After the incident, Police Colonel Somsak Thongkliang, superintendent of Kamala Police Station, dispatched a team to check surveillance cameras to find the driver and take legal action, speculating that it was a foreigner who had rented a car.

However, the convenience store owner from Bangkok, arrived at the station to turn himself in and was charged with reckless driving with a fine of 1,000 baht (21.67 GBP).

Somsak said: 'We found that the suspect was staying at a hotel in Patong Beach, so we summoned him to meet with the inquiry officer of Kamala Police Station to fine him for reckless driving.

'The suspect thought he could drive onto the beach as he brought two children and wanted them to see the sea closely, unaware that it was illegal, and he felt sorry for his mistek.'