Shocking footage has emerged of a drunken Australian tourist being wrestled to the floor of a Thai airport by armed police officers.
The Australian was waiting for his flight home from Phuket, Thailand, on September 22 when he became increasingly unruly after a waitress refused to serve him any more alcohol at an airport bar.
The man, wearing shorts and a T-shirt, then stumbled out of the bar and started antagonising nearby passengers waiting for flights.
Several police officers and airport staff descended on the man and tried to calm him down, but he only became more uncontrollable.
Shocking video showed the man being tackled to the ground by police officers, with one repeatedly whacking the Australian with a baton.
Another Australian who took the footage said the man appeared to be ‘very drunk’.
‘I was really disappointed to see Australians or anyone for that matter behave in this way,’ the Australian told The Mirror.
‘He was extremely drunk at the bar, got cut off, and then proceeded to fight anyone who so much looked at him.’
An Australian traveller was wrestled to the floor of a Thai airport after be started acting out when he was cut off from a bar
The other traveller said the man was eventually restrained and ‘held in the bathroom corridor where he just tormented anyone who walked past’.
‘When he was on the bench in handcuffs, he would start on anyone who made eye contact,’ the witness said.
‘I said to him “you’re a flop, and an embarrassment”. He didn’t like that.’
Airport staff confirmed the tourist was held in an airport cell while he sobered up.
As a result he missed his flight and was forced to rebook another plane.
A Phuket International Airport spokesperson said the situation had been resolved.
‘The holidaymaker in the video was very drunk and aggressive,’ the spokesperson said.
‘Police captured him at Gate 11. He was detained until he was sober and then the situation was resolved.’
Eventually the man was pinned to the ground and spent the night sobering up in an airport cell