Police arrested dozens of sex workers amid a prostitution crackdown in Sin City Pattaya.

Cops detained female and transgender prostitutes loitering in Pattaya Beach on May 21.

The women were found under the roadside palm trees - a notorious hub for street hawkers - where they were reportedly soliciting passing tourists.

Police Colonel Anek Sathongyu, superintendent of Pattaya City Police Station, said more than 50 people were caught in the operation, which follows previous round-ups of illegal prostitutes in the area.

He said: 'Officers were divided into two teams. The first team was assigned to arrest the suspects, while the second was tasked to fan out, observe their behaviour, and block their escape.

'We sent all arrested individuals to Pattaya City Police Station to have their personal records taken. Then, we handed them to Chonburi Social Development and Human Security Office to fine them per legal procedures.'

Former fishing village Pattaya became popular with American troops on 'rest and relaxation' breaks in the 1950s and 1960s when the US 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.