A heavily-tattooed Australian who had allegedly been drinking with his young girlfriend crashed into a row of shops in Thailand.

Vasilios Pilarinos, 47, is said to have been under the influence when he was returning from a bar and smashed into a pharmacy in 'Sin City' Pattaya in the early hours of Saturday morning.

His petite peroxide blonde Thai girlfriend in a blue party dress emerged from the wreckage and told police that she had been driving.

But witnesses said to officers that Vasilios had been behind the wheel of the black Ford Ranger pickup truck when it skidded into an electricity pole and then crashed into the chemist shop.

Shocking pictures and video from the scene show the extensive damage to the shopfront along with a car that was parked in front of the building.

Ann Kasem, one of the concerned residents, said: 'I was sleeping when I was woken up by a loud crashing sound. It was not normal, and I was worried, so I went outside and saw the truck had hit the shop and another car.

'There was some smoke from the engine and then others came outside.'

Police said that Vasilios and his female companion were arrested at the scene and taken to the police station for blood tests and further questioning.

Lieutenant Apinan Sritongrungthip, the Deputy Chief of Investigations from the Bang Lamung district station, said the level of alcohols in the blood of the suspect would be checked.

He added: 'Initially, when officers arrived at the scene of the crash, the tourist's girlfriend said that she was the driver. She said she was an inexperienced driver and that was the cause of the crash.

'Officers later arrested her when a witness said that the woman was not the driver. She admitted the tourist was driving and that she had lied because he had been drinking alcohol.

'I have inspected the scene of the accident, recorded images as evidence and taken the foreign driver to test his blood alcohol content in order to proceed with legal action.'