BANGKOK, Thailand -- Thailand's expensive international tourism effort
to downplay its reputation as a sexual playground suffered a rude
setback after three British soccer players appeared in a published
video laughing and shouting racist and vulgar abuse during their
Bangkok orgy with three Thai women.

The government's costly Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT)
promotional organization earlier said it was "very proud" to work with
England's Leicester City team and club, before three of its players
appeared romping in a hotel bed with the trio of unidentified Thais.

Uncensored clips online display the young men merrily shouting insults
at the obedient women while ordering them to perform orally and as
lesbians while the naked group of six cavort.

"Licky, licky, you slit eye," one of the men says, convincing a young
woman to approach another female who is sprawled on the bed.

"Leicester City budding stars, including boss Nigel Pearson's son,
were filmed taking part in a vile orgy in which a local girl was
racially abused in Bangkok," reported Britain's Sunday Mirror
newspaper which broke the story and posted a censored video excerpt on
its website on May 31.

"Warning: This video contains racist language and scenes of a sexual
nature," its website said.

"One of the players can be heard calling a woman a 'slit eye' while
his mates snigger at the racist jibe," the popular paper said.

In the brief, heavily censored excerpt on the newspaper's website, the
young British men can be heard gleefully shouting: "Oooh get my
testicles!" "Come on, lick it now!" "You lick her!" and "Chew on
that!"

"This guy is already hard!" one woman says to the two other females in
Thai language.

Leicester City is owned by a wealthy Thai father and son, Vichai and
Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha.

"Ya kinda don't wanna get caught using racist slurs while partaking in
an orgy when your owner is the offended race," tweeted Ranai Mattu on
the actively trending topic #LeicesterCity.

Thai fans are surprisingly enthusiastic about British soccer -- known
as "football" in the United Kingdom -- and many Thais adore and
illegally gamble on the games.

Thailand's TAT recently renewed, for a third season, its "strategic,
international partnership" with Leicester City.

One of TAT's favorite international tourism slogans is "Amazing
Thailand," and the phrase appears on the Leicester team's shirts.

TAT Governor Thawatchai Arunyik reportedly said earlier while renewing
their partnership: "The last two years working with Leicester City
have been an amazing adventure, filled with aspiration, incredible
people and some wonderful memories.

"We are very proud to be working with Leicester City and its
supporters, who have embraced the Club's increasingly strong
association with Thailand and given the nation a Premier League club
its people can take to their hearts," the TAT official said before the
video appeared.

"We're absolutely thrilled to continue to work with the Tourism
Authority of Thailand during the 2014-15 season," Leicester City's
chief executive Susan Whelan said at the time.

"Their [TAT's] support in the last two years has been vital in helping
us promote Leicester City to a Thai audience, and in reaching our
goals closer to home," Ms. Whelan said.

The club was touring Thailand during the weekend celebrating recent successes.

The three players include striker Tom Hopper, 21, team boss Nigel
Pearson's 22-year-old son, defender James Pearson, and goalkeeper Adam
Smith, 22.

"Tom Hopper, James Pearson and Adam Smith would like to convey their
sincere apologies for their behavior -- to the women involved in the
incident, to the club and its owners, to the club's fans and to their
families," the club said in a statement.

"The board of Leicester City is deeply concerned about an incident
involving three of our young professionals during a recent trip to
Thailand," the club told reporters.

"Following a preliminary meeting in consultation with the three
players earlier today (May 31), the players involved in the incident
are now returning to the U.K., in advance of the rest of the squad,"
the club said.

Thailand spends millions of dollars each year boosting its gorgeous
tropical beaches, delicious cuisine, exquisite Buddhist temples and
other tourist attractions while insisting this Southeast Asian nation
should not be perceived as a sexual playground for international
visitors.

When reality mars TAT's projected image, officials denounce the news
as an isolated event and stress much has been done to upgrade the
country's other attractions.

American celebrity Rihanna shocked TAT when she tweeted to 32 million
followers during her 2013 visit to Thailand:

"Either I was phuck wasted last night, or I saw a Thai woman pull a
live bird, two turtles, razors, shoot darts and ping pong, all out of
her pu$$y.

"The bird's feathers were all damp! Lol. Only in Thailand," Rihanna wrote.

There are more than 150,000 female sex workers in this
Buddhist-majority country, according to published estimates, but no
one really knows for sure.

Prostitution is illegal, widely tolerated and commercially hyped with
ubiquitous, neon-lit bars, nightclubs, massage parlors and other
venues where women, men, transvestites and transgenders rent
themselves for adult entertainment.

Much of the prostitution aimed toward foreign tourists is spurred by
unskilled women voluntarily seeking well-paying work.

By comparison, forced and exploited sex workers are usually found in
slums, working class venues and rural areas where their customers are
mostly blue-collar Thai men and migrants.