A British ex-pat who drunkenly got a giant “Taiwan” tattoo on his forehead was savagely beaten by a group of angry Chinese men.

Paul Ferrell, 32, ended up with one tooth knocked completely out and others bashed out of place, after some men set upon him in a Cambodian bar where he was spending some time on vacation.

Relations between China and Taiwan have never been cordial and it is believed that seeing the tattoo sent the Chinese men into a rage.

Ferrell hit the headlines last year when he admitted his wife was furious with the tattoo, including an inking of the national flag on his chin — which has since been removed.

Now he has paid dearly for the bizarre inking across his forehead, which he got during a drunken night out.

The Taiwan News reports he was savagely beaten by 10 Chinese men in a small city in Cambodia when they discovered his tattoo.

A discussion started and soon turned into a row when he refused to recognize their claim that the country is part of China.

The local paper said that Ferrell, who has lived in Taiwan for 14 years, took a seat at a bar in Sihanoukville Square in the coastal Cambodian city of Sihanoukville on Saturday night.

Once he took his hat off, a large group of Chinese men sitting nearby, whom he believed to be overseas workers, noticed that the traditional Chinese characters for “Taiwan” were tattooed on his forehead.

The paper said one of the Chinese men then shouted in Mandarin: “Taiwan, China!”

Answering back, Ferrell said: “Taiwan, Taiwan!”

Ferrell told the paper that was when they “went insane, grabbed poles and started attacking me.”

Ferrell, who has taken on the name Lo Han, says the men savagely beat him, demanding that he say that Taiwan is part of China, as hundreds of bystanders watched.

Refusing to refer to Taiwan as part of China, but fearing for his life, Ferrell said in Mandarin, “OK, you think Taiwan is China, I’ll say Taiwan is China, I just want to leave.”

Afterward, Ferrell found he had suffered a gash to his head, many bruises to his body, a fat lip, two lost teeth and two badly dented teeth, and says that due to the damage to his teeth, he can longer close his mouth properly.

The paper said in a Facebook post that bar owner Ferrell described the harrowing encounter and admitted his regret about getting the tattoo on his forehead and warned other travelers to be careful.

He said: “In future not going to take my hat off, getting tattoo removed btw, as was a stupid drunken mistake getting it tattooed on my face, any other part of my body would have been fine but not the face, had four laser removals already so flag on chin gone almost already still need a few more for forehead. Taiwanese be careful abroad stay safe!

“Actually I’ve met many really nice Chinese here in Cambodia but obviously only takes one group that are not so friendly and have trouble.”

It was previously reported Ferrell had been arrested for drunk driving and once firebombed a corner shop with a Molotov cocktail over a hamburger.

In October 2017, police in Taiwan’s southwestern city of Kaohsiung said Ferrell was incoherent and unable to respond to questioning, but they “knew who he was” after spotting the huge Chinese characters reading “tai wan” on his forehead.

Ferrell was subjected to a breathalyzer test and found to have been over the legal limit and was detained for drunk driving and released without bail, and was expected to receive a hefty fine.

In Mandarin, he told local media: “I only rode my scooter for one minute” — referring to the moment he was caught drunk driving.

In 2015, Ferrell was arrested on arson charges after he hurled a Molotov cocktail into a Family Mart following a dispute with employees inside over a hamburger.

Footage from the business shows a flaming bottle of alcohol being thrown outside the premises, after which it explodes into a fireball.

Moments earlier, a drunken Ferrell had been filmed slapping and yelling at the staff, reportedly saying: “Come on. Fight me now outside. Right now. Me and you. Let’s go. Yeah.”

He also mocks the employees in Mandarin, imitating how he believes they would speak on the phone with the police.

According to reports, the intoxicated Ferrell had wanted a hamburger but was upset at having not been given ketchup.

All condiments, however, were placed on the counter and free for customers to use, the staff said.

Ferrell reportedly skipped bail and fled to the UK after the incident but eventually returned to Taiwan.