This is the chaotic moment Israeli tourists fought transgender prostitutes after hiring them - then backing out on the way to the hotel.

Footage shows the drunk men squaring off against the dress-wearing hookers along the city's infamous Beach Road in the early hours of Monday morning.

Despite being larger, the holidaymakers were seen fleeing across the road as the feisty ladyboys chased them. Both parties later lodged formal complaints at the police station.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Wuttinan Khongdee, inquiry officer at Pattaya City Police Station, said: 'The foreigners involved were four Israeli men, but only three of them were involved in the physical altercation.

'As for the injured individuals, there were three transgender women. The incident began after the transgender women, who were offering services, talked to the tourists.

'A disagreement occurred, which escalated into a quarrel. However, the tourists were not so drunk that they lost control.

'No one has been arrested yet. Both parties have filed complaints against each other, so the police are waiting for medical evaluation reports before proceeding.

'The injuries on both sides are minor. The transgender women have normal bruises and swelling, while the foreigners have some scratch marks.'

The Thai ladyboys - men who dress as women - claimed the tourists had hired them for 3,000 baht (67 GBP) each to spend the rest of the night together.

They said they initially agreed, but decided to back out on the way to the hotel 'because the men were too drunk and they were afraid of getting hurt'.

The Israeli tourists then demanded a refund, sparking the violent row.

A motorcycle rider who witnessed the fight break out said: 'While I was waiting for my passenger, I heard people fighting and saw some foreigners hurting a woman. I pulled over, left my phone on the seat, and went to help. I tried to hold them until the police arrived, but they ran away, grabbed a stick from the roadside, and came after me. They even damaged my motorcycle and my phone.'

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.