British tourist, 61, punched in the head with car key and robbed by local in Phuket, Thailand

This is the shocking moment a British tourist was punched in the head with a car key and allegedly robbed by a thug in Thailand.

Robert Anderson, 62, from Alness, Inverness, was sitting in front of a store along Soi Bangla in Phuket when Kittipong Chantawong, 27, approached him around 8 am on August 9.

CCTV footage shows Robert in a black shirt calling out to Kittipong, wearing a purple shirt, to ask him a question.

The Thai man handed Robert his phone before the Brit began using an ATM.

But moments later Robert demanded his phone back. The Thai man lashed out, punching Robert in the head with the point of his car key and hurling him onto a pile of bin bags. He then stamped on his head.

A furious Kittipong is seen on the video then allegedly taking a bag and Robert's gold bracelet.

Robert, still lying bloodied on the rubbish bags, was heard repeatedly pleading to someone off-screen to 'please give me my phone'. Officers arrived shortly after with an ambulance crew.

Police Lieutenant Thanapat Rungruangsakorn of the Patong Police Station said the clash happened opposite the New York Bar in Patong.

He said: 'Paramedics took Mr Robert Anderson to Patong Hospital before bringing the other party to Patong Police Station for questioning.

'Initially, Mr Robert told police that while he was being physically assaulted by the Thai man, his gold bracelet was snatched.'

Police have not yet clarified the cause of the row, but said Robert was heard on camera telling Kittipong: 'My wife will give you money later'.

Both parties will be summoned this week for further investigation at the Patong Police Station.

The incident is the latest in a spate of violence against tourists and foreigners in Thailand, which has gained a bad reputation in recent years for lawlessness.

On July 31, Canadian oil executive Mark Robert Westendorf, 65, was knocked out by Thai security guard, Patiphan Sorheng, 28, in front of a bar operated by British-run company Nightwish Group on Soi 6 in Pattaya.

Mark was recovering in the ICU of a private hospital, while Patiphan had denied assaulting him, and claimed he only shoved the Canadian.

On July 29, two Arabian tourists, Mohamed Abdalla Hassan Mirak Alblooshi, 33, and Abdullah Mohammed Ali Ibrahim, 25, were reportedly assaulted by a hot-headed taxi driver speeding past them in Phuket.

Two weeks earlier, on July 15, a Kuwaiti tourist, Turky Alazemi, 30, in Phuket was reportedly beaten up by three motorcycle taxi drivers until he fell unconscious.

While a British tourist, Bryce Mahoney, 42, was brutally kicked in the head and knocked unconscious by a bar bouncer over a drinks bill dispute at a bar in Pattaya on May 24.