PATTAYA — A British tourist, too drunk to get into a taxi, ended up in a fistfight with two Good Samaritans who volunteered to drive him home in the early hours of Tuesday in this eastern seaside tourist town.
Muang Pattaya police and rescue volunteers were called to Pattaya Sai 3 Road in tambon Nong Pruea of Bang Lamung district at about 3am, where they found a man aged about 55-65 sitting on the pavement. He had sustained a broken nose, a bruised left eye, bleeding on his face and some scratches on his body.
Rescuers provided first aid before sending him to a hospital. A witness identified only as Rattapon, a 41-year-old police volunteer, reported seeing a white pickup truck pull over and a Thai man drag the Briton out. Other witnesses tried to ask him what happened but received little information due to his intoxicated state.
As officers investigated to identify the Briton's attacker, two men identified only as Manuchchai, 30, and Jakkrit, 28, arrived at Muang Pattaya police station at 4.30am. They requested that the incident involving the injured man be recorded in the daily log as evidence.
The men, who are technicians at a night entertainment venue in South Pattaya, admitted to assaulting the Briton but claimed he had attacked them first and struck their pickup truck.
Police said they would check footage from security cameras around the area where the incident took place and question both parties to ensure fairness.
According to Mr Manuchchai, the Briton was drinking and appeared intoxicated at a bar on Soi Bua Khao. When he attempted to get a taxi home, no drivers were willing to take him. Moved by pity, he and his friend volunteered to drive him, but the passenger became loud, aggressive and tried to attack them.
"We tried to calm him down, but he refused to listen and forced us to turn into the wrong lane," Mr Manuchchai said. "When we pulled over, he struck our truck, causing damage."
"He started a fistfight with us. We had to leave him on the roadside. Things escalated, and we traded punches, with both sides getting injured. After the incident, we drove away, not expecting that the police would be looking for us. We want to assert our innocence. We were attacked first despite our good intentions to take him home."