ADD: Cash-strapped British tourist 'fakes own abduction to extort money from his family in England'

The British man who tried to dupe his family into sending him money when his Thai holiday slush fund ran out was Ian Robbie Day, 48, from Portsmouth. His three friends were Benjamin Michael Haggie Cooper, 36, Darren Lee Cheeseman, 57, and Damien Roche, 50.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Sorasak Saengcha, who lead the investigation at the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB), said: 'The guy chatted in iMessage and FaceTime with his relatives in the UK. He sent pictures of himself being attacked, and then after with injuries, he took pictures of himself looking like he had been beaten up. His friends would punch him and give him bruises on his faces, then he would video call his family on FaceTime.