A disabled Australian tourist reported a Thai woman to police for allegedly stealing his money in Pattaya.

Keith William Dobie, 65, was rolling his wheelchair along the notorious coastal town when he met the suspect on the beach, a trawling ground for Thai prostitutes seeking foreign clients.

The pensioner said he had hit it off with the mystery woman before inviting her back to his hotel early morning on May 8.

He took a shower to freshen up, but found that the suspect had allegedly swiped 350 USD and 3,500 baht in cash from his trouser pockets. She was gone when he returned to the bedroom.

Police Lieutenant Akkraphong Saenputawon, deputy chief of investigation at the Pattaya City Police Station, said the Aussie filed a report with the police at 1:10 am local time.

He said: ‘We have recorded the incident in the daily report and have dispatched investigators to gather evidence. We want to ensure fairness to both parties.'

Keith said he had wheeled himself back to the beach to search for the woman following the theft - only to find her lurking in the same area in different clothes.

To avoid detection, she had changed into a dress instead of the skimpy denim shorts she was earlier wearing.

He said: 'We got along really well. I didn't think anything was wrong. But when I got out, she was gone and so was the cash from my trouser pocket.

‘She got denim shorts on, I saw it. Now, she is wearing a dress. Wherever the shorts are, that's where the money is.'

He said he started shouting for help, and a civil defence volunteer helped him catch the woman to bring to the police station.

Officials said the case was being investigated.

Former fishing village Pattaya became popular with American troops on 'rest and relaxation' breaks in the 1950s and 1960s when the U.S. military had bases in Thailand while fighting Communism in Vietnam. Rural families are said to have even dressed their sons as women to cash in on the gold rush.

The handful of bars in the coastal town quickly grew and it is now the world's biggest sex holiday destination, with round-the-clock prostitution and drugs - a modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah rife with crime and debauchery.

Government chiefs have attempted to clean up the city but regular violence, depravity and claims of corruption continue to blight its reputation.