A drunk British motorcycle rider crashed into an oncoming SUV when he reportedly drove the wrong way on the road.

The foreign holidaymaker was allegedly intoxicated while riding a rented Honda Click motorcycle without a license plate along Soi Jomtien 1 in Pattaya, Thailand, early morning on October 22.

He was said to have driven on the wrong lane and crashed head-on into an oncoming Toyota Fortuner. He suffered wounds and abrasions on his body and face.

A Pattaya Police Station spokesman said the crash happened at around 3 am and the British suspect was taken from the scene to the local hospital. He will be interviewed when he comes round.

The policeman said: 'The foreigner was lying unconscious at the scene so we couldn't conduct an alcohol test. He was not carrying any ID, so initially, we did not know any details about him, including name, age, and nationality.

'He seemed to be around 50 years old. He was sent to Bangkok Hospital Pattaya for treatment.

'We later learned from the motorcycle details that the rider was a British man.'

A rescue volunteer said: 'The rescue team was notified that he had lost consciousness. However, after we checked, he had not lost consciousness and was actually intoxicated. Therefore, the injured person was taken to the hospital.'

Toyota Fortuner driver Kriangsak Imchom, 42, said he was driving out of a carpark when the tourist's two-wheeler roared towards him on the wrong side of the road.

He said: 'Before I could steer my car away, the motorcycle crashed into me at high speed. We were both injured.'

Thailand has one of the world's worst road safety records. Ministers have set the goal of reducing fatalities from 32.7 deaths per 100,000 people to 12 per 100,000 people by the year 2027.

However, a lack of road safety education in schools along with notoriously easy driving tests, police failures to enforce road laws, and chronic under-investment in infrastructure, all appear to hamper the efforts.