Two foreigners have been arrested on Koh Samui after riding big bikes around with very loud exhaust pipes and giving the middle finger to local residents.

Residents living along the road leading to Choeng Mon beach on the northeast corner of Koh Samui initially filed a complaint with Bophut police station against the two tourists.

The residents accused them of disturbing the peace and potentially posing a threat to public safety. The complaint said the two men had ridden big bikes with noisy exhaust pipes at high speed up and down the road about a dozen times every day.

However, police told them the complaint needed to be backed by evidence. The residents then managed to video-record the tourists in action and captured one of the riders making an impolite hand gesture to them.

After receiving the video clip via the police station's Facebook page, Bophut police set up a checkpoint and were able to arrest the two tourists on Saturday evening.

Both motorcycles reportedly had unauthorised modifications. The bikes were rented from a shop in Phuket.