A drunk tourist was rescued after trying to swim to an island from a beach in Thailand.

Footage shows the middle-aged Russian holidaymaker floating in the sea around two nautical miles (2.3 miles or 3.7 km) off the coast of Pattaya in Chonburi province on November 19.

Boat operator Nit Thongdee, 50, said he had been taking tourists to Koh Larn when he saw the man, whom he initially mistook for a corpse.

Upon seeing the swimmer waving his hands for help, the boat crew threw a safety ring into the water and hauled him onboard.

When the boat reached the island, the man walked away as though nothing had happened, and blended in with the crowd.

Astonished passenger Asadakorn Bangsi, who filmed the rescue, said: 'The man appeared to be a Russian and he was slightly intoxicated. He smelled of alcohol when he spoke and he was a bit tipsy.

'He told us he had swam from a harbor in Pattaya because he wanted to reach Koh Larn island. He must be very fit, otherwise he would have drowned from cramps while swimming.

'The sea was very rough so I'm amazed he managed to stay afloat.'

Koh Larn is around 4.3 miles (7km) away from the Pattaya coast. Speedboats leave regularly from the Bali Hai pier and cost around 50 Baht (1.43 USD) for the trip.

Former fishing village Pattaya became popular with American troops on 'rest and relaxation' breaks in the 1960s when the U.S. military had bases in Thailand. In the ensuing years, the coastal resort spawned into a semi-barbarous sex-tourism hellscape.

Embarrassed officials have made progress in gentrifying the region with family tourism projects but a ravenous nightlife industry and ineffective police have hampered their efforts, with undesirables from all nations still attracted to the seedy city.