Police rounded up and arrested 20 foreign prostitutes in the notorious costal town of Pattaya on Thursday night.

Officers swooped on the women - but avoided local sex workers - while they were soliciting passing tourists along the beach.

Footage captured as evidence shows the woman negotiating with men before being herded into the police station and frogmarched into a waiting truck.

Police said that nine of the prostitutes were from Uganda, eight from Uzbekistan, two from the Malagasy Republic and one from Rwanda.

Officers said that all of the suspects admitted to travelling to Pattaya to work in the lucrative sex trade, offering services to the hundreds of thousands of holidaymakers that visit the region for its adult nightlife.

They were charged with 'soliciting, inducing, introducing themselves to, following, or importuning a person in public for the purpose of prostitution'.

All suspects were handed over to the provincial Social Development and Human Security office to pay fines before being transferred to Chonburi Immigration for visa revocation.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Piyapong Ensarn of the Thailand Tourist Police said: 'At 1.06am, Pattaya Tourist Police, in collaboration with Chonburi Immigration and the provincial Social Development and Human Security office, conducted an inspection on the beach to eliminate prostitution. 

'This collaboration aligns with the supervisor's policy and aims to restore and improve the tourism image, especially on Pattaya Beach, in preparation for welcoming tourists during the New Year Festival.'

Government chiefs have attempted to clean up the notorious destination but regular violence and depravity continue to blight its reputation.

Last this week, a British tourist, 71, was grilled by police after he admitted sleeping with the the corpse of a dead prostitute for three nights before the body was discovered.