British tourist shot dead at Thailand New Year party A British holidaymaker was shot dead in Thailand just hours after welcoming in the New Year with friends at a beach party. Media on the popular party island of Koh Phangan said a 22-year-old tourist, named locally as Stephen Ashton, was gunned down after an argument between two groups of Thai youths spiralled out of control. The Foreign Office later confirmed Mr Ashton's identity. According to reports Mr Ashton was welcoming in the New Year with friends at Haad Rin, along stretch of beach which is famous for its "full moon" parties. Shortly after 3am an argument broke out between a group of locals at Zoom Bar, one of the many beachside party venues that line Haad Rin. As one of the men walked away from the bar he reportedly pulled out a gun and fired multiple shots into the crowd hitting Mr Ashton in the chest. Local reports also suggested a second Thai man was injured. "He was shot in the side while he was dancing on the beach," local policeman Lieutenant Colonel Somsak Noorod told the AFP news agency. Mr Ashton was rushed to Bandon International Hospital but could not be revived. A nurse at the hospital told The Independent that a British tourist was admitted at 4.10am. Doctors spent 40 minutes trying to resuscitate him but there was nothing they could do. The killing is likely to raise fresh concerns over the safety of tourists on Koh Phangan, an island once renowned for hippy beach parties that has since transformed itself into one of South East Asia's party capitals. Hundreds of thousands of westerners flock to the island for its famous "full moon" parties. The island had been bracing itself for a deluge of extra tourists over the weekend because the full moon - which fell on Friday - coincided with the New Year celebrations. According to local tourism officials, 80,000 turned up for Friday's full moon party and a further 100,000 were expected to see in 2013 across Haad Rin. The influx of tourists has brought significant wealth to Koh Phangan but the island also has a reputation for violent crime. The Foreign Office's travel advice for Thailand specifically mentions full moon parties in Haad Rin as being a time when revellers are most vulnerable. "Western tourists have been victims of vicious unprovoked attacks by gangs in Koh Phangan," the advice states. These attacks are particularly common around the time of the Full Moon parties and generally occur late at night near bars in Haad Rin. According to the Bangkok Post, police gathered a search party to look for the shooter and eventually arrested a 26-year-old man. He was reportedly found in possession of a handmade gun and admitted arguing with others at Zoom Bar but denied firing any shots. Thai police said they will interrogate him on Wednesday morning. Confirming the identity of the victim, the Foreign Office said they were aware of the death and were "providing consular assistance to the family." Gun violence is not uncommon in Thailand which has by far the highest gun ownership rates in Asia with 15 out of every 100 people owning a firearm. There were 5.3 murders with firearms per 100,000 people in Thailand in 2011, compared to 0.2 in the Philippines, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime reported. According to Thailand's Justice Ministry the number of young people carrying firearms has increased 32 percent over the last nine years. In recent months there have been a string of high profile gun crime stories that have generated debate in Thailand about the prevalence of weapons. In October a senator accidentally shot his secretary after he pulled out an Uzi machine gun at a dinner table whilst the month before a Gangnam Style "dance off" in Bangkok between two rival gangs descended into shootout.