A British tourist is in intensive care after allegedly playing Russian roulette while high on a cocktail of cannabis and laughing gas.

Michael James Ward, 30, from Birkenhead, Merseyside, is said to have smoked marijuana and inhaled nitrous oxide at a hotel with a friend on Tuesday night in Thailand.

Euphoric from the combination of drugs, the holidaymaker reportedly started playing the notorious firearms game.

He turned the .38 calibre revolver toward himself and pulled the trigger once and the barrel was empty. He then fired a second time and a bullet from the handgun emptied into his forehead.

Michael's Lithuanian pal, Alichanovas Emilijus, 29, heard the gunshot and called an ambulance at around 9:36 pm in coastal town Pattaya.

Medics arrived at the room, where they found the Brit sprawled on the floor with blood gushing from his head. He was alive but bleeding heavily.

Michael was rushed to a nearby hospital where he remains in critical condition today.

Officers collected evidence including a nitrous oxide or laughing gas cylinder, used balloons, the .38 revolver, and a single spent bullet casing.

Police Captain Pansan Klongsit of the Pattaya City Police Station said: 'We have co-ordinated with Chonburi forensic police to collect evidence from both the room and the man's roommate, including gunshot residue.

‘The roommate was brought in for thorough questioning to investigate how the British man came to possess the firearm involved in the incident.'

Alichanovas claimed the Brit had smoked cannabis and inhaled several canisters of laughing gas before suffering what he described as a 'mental breakdown'.

He said: 'Mike invited me to play Russian roulette but I declined and went to bed because I was scared I would hurt myself.

'While I was in bed, I first heard the trigger being pulled without firing. However, he tried again, and this time, a loud bang followed.

'I cam out of my room and found him in a pool of blood. I screamed his name and ran to call for help from the security guard.'

Police said the investigation was ongoing while Michael remains in critical condition. They are waiting for him to regain consciousness to ask him what happened.

Cannabis with under 0.2 per cent of THC was decriminalised in Thailand in June 2022, as a potential cash crop for impoverished farmers. Cannabis smoking is allowed for personal use in private areas but remains prohibited in public spaces.

However, bungling officials are now seeking to outlaw recreational cannabis, blaming poorly regulated use for allegedly fuelling drug abuse and a rise in the the number of cases of tourists over-indulging in the drug.

Tourist destinations such as Bangkok, Phuket and Pattaya have seen the negative consequences of legalising the drug, with tourists regularly arrested for misbehaving while under the influence of cannabis.