This is the bizarre moment a tourist was seen on CCTV casually stealing shoes from outside a massage shop in Thailand.

The couple were walking pas the spa when the holidaymaker spotted the footwear and took it with him in the island of Phuket on February 4 evening.

Footage shows the alleged shoe thief holding hands with his partner and leaning down to pick up the shoes from the closed shop's entrance.

He moved along with his partner like nothing happened.

The shocked shop owner said: 'How could he afford a flight ticket and stay here if he was going to steal our shoes?

'Maybe he thought the shoes were already discarded, but they were properly placed outside the shop. It would feel strange to take them so casually the way he did.'

Phuket has become one of Asia's most popular tourist destinations, but it has also attracted criminals and rowdy holidaymakers.

Furious locals have been blaming the Thai government's free visa policy for the influx of 'low-quality tourists' in the country. The scheme was implemented to boost income from Thailand's tourism industry.