A Finnish tourist was arrested after allegedly making a bomb threat against an airport in Thailand.

Jyrki Juhani Virmo, 63, was traced by police after a call from a mobile phone warned of an explosion at the Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, Thailand.

The tourist was detained when he arrived to check in for a flight to Finland on Wednesday (January 1).

Police confronted Virmo about the alleged bomb threat, which he claimed he did to warn officials about security flaws at the airport.

But police remanded the Finn in custody on suspicion of breaking the country's Airport Act, which carries a maximum jail term of 15 years.

Police Liutenant General Amphol Buarabporn, commander of Provincial Police Region 1, said: ''We waited for the suspect to arrive at a check-in counter at Suvarnabhumi and arrested him before he could depart for Finland.''

Amphol described the man as repetitive and confusing in his preliminary interrogation and likened his manner to that of a psychiatric patient.

The police chief added: ''The suspect claimed that, on entering Thailand via Suvarnabhumi, he noticed the airport’s security system was faulty and vulnerable to a terrorist attack, so he made the call to warn the authorities.

''But the phone call suggests otherwise, pointing to a threat and invoking panic, which is in violation of the Thailand Airport Act and punishable with five-15 years in jail or a fine of Bt200,000-Bt600,000 or both.''

Ampol said police were considering having the suspect’s mental health evaluated before charging him.