A drunk farrang holidaying in Pattaya had to be rescued and brought back to shore in a boat on Sunday night after swimming out to sea in a bid to avoid paying his bar bill.

Police were called to the beach close to Soi 8 at around 11pm to find a large group of locals and tourists watching the unnamed man shouting and screaming about 200-300 meters out.

It took rescuers around 30 minutes to coax the man, thought to be European, into the boat as he continued to bawl at those trying to help him.

A barman from a Soi 8 pub told cops the man had been drinking at his bar and was drunk when he presented him with his bill totaling 1,000 baht. He refused to pay it and walked away. When the barman gave chase he ran to the beach, jumped into the sea and swan away from the shore to avoid being caught.

It was thought the man may be suffering from mental illness and he was detained overnight to monitor his condition before questioning him about his actions when he either came to his senses, or most likely, sobered up..





