Bangkok: Sex is sinking the Thai capital, officials warn.

The city's massage parlours – a thin euphemism for commercial sex venues – are illegally pumping so much groundwater for bathing and rinsing that they are adding to the subsidence of the city at a rate of a centimetre each year, according to officials quoted by Khaosod English online news.

Dancers perform in Bangkok, long considered one of the world's sex destinations. Credit:AP/File

Former massage parlour mogul-turned-politician Chuwit Kamolvist said brothels resort to groundwater because of their massive water needs. Buying the water legally racks up enormous bills.

"Think of how much they have to pay for water? It's a lot," Mr Chuwit said on his Thairath television show.