Mohamad Zubair Edwa, 37, who is believed to use the name Edward Wright, said he was riding home from a bar in the early hours of the morning when three men on a motorbike blocked the road in front of him.

One of the men dismounted and, as Mr Edwa attempted to ride around the man, he was stabbed in the side, causing a deep wound and extensive bleeding.

"As I was riding [away], I touched my back, and there was blood all over my hand," Mr Edwa, from Cambridge told Thai news website Phuket Wan.

The attack came just five hours and less than 10 kilometres from where 60-year-old Australian Mrs Smith was attacked and killed, see previous story.

Sombut Atiset, owner of five-star luxury resort Katathani Beach Resort where Mrs Smith had been staying, said he would pay for witnesses to fly back from Australia to Phuket if it would help convict the killers.

He said Phuket"s undermanned police force needed all the help it could muster.

The Tourism Authority Thailand is in ''deep shock and regret'' following the attack on the travel agents, a spokesman said.