Thailand warned tourists arriving from Europe with ham or beef sandwiches they face a possible spell behind bars.
Mr Prachak Thiratinrat, director of the Thai livestock department's disease control division, said strict punishments had been introduced to prevent the import of meat from any country affected by BSE or foot-and-mouth disease.
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The measure, designed to prevent the spread of disease, covers meat from all 15 European Union countries and any other unspecified country threatened by either of the diseases, Mr Prachak said. He did not elaborate.
The livestock department has recently issued a notice to all international airlines to warn passengers not to bring into Thailand beef and pork from countries threatened by the diseases.
Any traveller found carrying this type of meat would be jailed for up to two years, fined, or both.
Asked what would happen if a tourist from Europe was caught arriving in Thailand with a ham sandwich, Mr Prachak said: "We will charge them, but I don't think it will happen, because they will probably eat their sandwiches long before they get here."
Some strains of foot-and-mouth disease are found regularly in Thailand and cause little alarm because they pose no serious threat to humans.
But the recent spread of BSE has alarmed Thai officials who have banned imports of meat from hoofed animals such as cattle, pigs, goats and sheep from Europe.