Pol Maj Jakkapong Luang-on of Kathu Police Station said he received a report at 1:45 in the morning that some foreigners were being beaten by Thais.
Arriving at the scene they found a man who gave his name as Bob House, bleeding and asking for help.
“I just ran,” he told bystanders. “They chased me and hit me and I kept running and they kept hitting me.”
Officials themselves had to run after the other three victims, eventually establishing that Mr House was the father, in Phuket with his wife and their son and daughter. During the attack the family had all run in different directions.
All were attacked at some stage, some ending up with bleeding heads or cuts and bruises to the face and body.
After questioning the victims, police learned that the family had been in a shouting match with “a Thai man wearing a red shirt”. He had called friends who took the dispute to the next, physical level.
Kusoldharm Foundation staff took the family to Patong Hospital for treatment.
This afternoon police said that the family had decided to take the matter no further.
The family refused to talk with reporters, and the police were unable to give the reason behind the argument and the subsequent attack.
On the same evening police also had to help a Chinese family of three after two of the tyres on their rented car were let down by someone.
The trio had parked the car on Rat U Thit 200 Pi Rd before going for supper. When they returned they found that the air valves had been removed from two of the tyres.
Police said that they suspected a tuk-tuk or taxi driver had let the air out of the tyres to protest against the tourists parking in "their" parking place.
Letting down or puncturing tyres has been a practice for many decades in Patong as tuk-tuk and taxi drivers, and car rental companies annex public parking spaces for their own private use.