A crazed Tunisian tourist was subdued by police after a drunken rampage in a hedonistic seaside town in Thailand.

Salmen Hamdi, 21, reportedly held a Thai bar girl named Nan, 34, hostage while claiming he stole her money.

The intoxicated backpacker was said to have smashed a glass bottle before grabbing Nan and pointing the jagged edge at her neck in front of shocked customers and staff.

Police arrived at the nightclub in 'Sin City' Pattaya after receiving a report at 9 am on March 25.

They found the furious half-naked tourist gripping Nan by the neck as he screamed 'Why did you steal my money?!'. After a tense standoff, he later released the terrified bargirl, but still refused to surrender to police.

Footage shows a defiant Salmen, who had stripped down to his underwear, flipping off the police and cursing at them. The cops tried for more than an hour to negotiate with him before storming the bar entrance and forcibly cuffing the enraged tourist.

Despite being subdued, the Tunisian continued hurling abuse at the locals, saying: 'F*** you! You're a f****** a*****e.'

Bar owner Sukanya Seubma, 44, said Salmen had arrived with Nan, and they were seen playing pool and drinking before his violent outburst.

She said: 'He was heavily intoxicated and suddenly became aggressive. He started accusing the girl of stealing his money, broke a bottle, and threatened everyone around him. People were fleeing for their lives.'

Shaken bargirl Nan said she had met Salmen on Pattaya Beach. She said: 'I invited him to the bar, and he kept drinking until he was heavily intoxicated. When he reached into his pocket to pay, he only found 500 Baht in cash.

'Then, he started accusing me of taking his money. He yelled at me, then he broke the bottle and grabbed me by the neck, threatening me to confess. I didn't know what he was talking about because I didn't take any money from him.'

Police Lieutenant Colonel Torlarp Tinamart of the Tourist Police said: 'After we apprehended the suspect, we took him to Pattaya City Police Station.

‘He was still heavily drunk and spoke confusingly, continuously insulting officers the entire time. Eventually, we had to lock him inside a cell to sober up.'

Salmen will be charged for public intoxication and causing a public disturbance, police said.

Former fishing village Pattaya became popular with American troops on 'rest and relaxation' breaks in the 1950s and 1960s when the U.S. military had bases in Thailand while fighting Communism in Vietnam. Rural families are said to have even dressed their sons as women to cash in on the gold rush.

The handful of bars in the coastal town quickly grew and it is now the world's biggest sex holiday destination, with round-the-clock prostitution and drugs - a modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah rife with crime and debauchery.

Government chiefs have attempted to clean up the city but regular violence, depravity and claims of corruption continue to blight its reputation.