The two men, Surasak ''Boy'' Suwannachot, 26, and alleged accomplice Surin Taptong, 34, had been brought to the upmarket Kata Noi Beach where Mrs Smith was murdered to re-enact the brutal killing under police direction.

When she was attacked, Mrs Smith had been returning to the Katathani Phuket Beach Resort after dinner with companion Tammee Lynn, 42. Both were in Thailand with a group of Perth travel agents.

One Australian had to be restrained by Thai police from one of the accused men.

''I was just so angry,'' Tony Clarke, 52, a tall, strongly built man, told Fairfax Media at the scene yesterday where Mrs Smith was stabbed through the heart last Wednesday.

''Most Thais are beautiful people, but you also have a bad element.''

As other tourists, including many from Australia, swam in rolling surf nearby, Mr Clarke and his partner, Deborah Lewis, 50, were in no mood to relax.

Instead, they watched in fury as the two men under police direction re-enacted the killing.

Surasak got off the back of the purple motorcycle Surin Taptong was controlling and stabbed Mrs Smith when she resisted having her handbag taken.

Ms Lynn was slashed and required stitches.

Two young Thai women yesterday played the parts of the victims as an angry crowd looked on.

As a sign of the seriousness with which Thailand regards this latest case, there has been direct involvement by the country's Prime Minister, Yingluck Shinawatra. And the Commissioner General of the Royal Thai Police came to Phuket from Bangkok in the wake of the arrests of Surasak and Surin. They were both arrested on Monday on the mainland after fleeing Phuket.

Mr Clarke said of Mrs Smith: ''She was the life and soul of the party. She would have fought. I was so close to hitting him [Surasak] because of what he did to her. I was going to punch him in the head.

''The Thai people here are mostly so good. I have a friend, Bob, whose mother was a best friend of Michelle Smith. They knew each other since their youth. I was moving to belt him [accused murderer Surasak] but the police held me back. I really wanted to punch him. The local people were with me and other Australians here. They were saying, 'Get him, get him'.''