British tourist fighting for life after being stabbed multiple times on Thai party island

Thai police are searching for a man who stabbed a British tourist outside a beach club on Wednesday.

Louis Johe Jarvie, 34, suffered a knife wound to his right arm in the incident, which took place in Cherng Talay, Phuket, at around 12.20am.

The attacker, said to have been foreign to Thailand, fled the scene before police arrived.

Visibility is said to have been “poor” at the time, according to police, as they tried to put together an image of what the person looked like.

“Witnesses said they saw a large foreign man stab the British man in the arm,” police said. “The victim is now feeling better but is not ready to respond.”

Rescue workers from the Cherng Talay Tambon Administrative Organisation provided first aid before Mr Jarvie was taken to Thalang Hospital, where he is currently recovering.

Authorities are using CCTV footage of the area to identify the suspect and are continuing to question witnesses who saw the incident or were around at the time of the attack.

The Independent has contacted Phuket police for comment.

Millions of tourists visit Thailand every year, with the largest numbers of Western tourists arriving from Russia and the UK, according to the country’s tourism department. Around 60 per cent of Thailand’s tourists are returning visitors.

Last week, a British tourist and father-of-one died in front of his wife after getting trapped in a rip current on Freedom Beach in Phuket. He was the fourth tourist to have died on southern Thailand beaches over the course of three days, according to the Thai Examiner.

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A previous series of deaths in Phuket had led to concerns over an alleged lack of safety and security measures on the island.

Police lieutenant colonel Chanan Mekchai, at Patong Police Station, said: “The incident happened at around 11.30am, and we were notified an hour later.

“He went to the beach with his wife at around 10am. While swimming, he was caught in strong waves and disappeared beneath the surface.”

A spokesperson for the UK’s Foreign Office said: “We are supporting the family of a British man who has died in Thailand and are in contact with the local authorities.”