BANGKOK, Aug 22: A Pakistani has been charged with the murder of a Briton who was found dead in Thailand's troubled deep south where bloody separatist violence has raged this year, police said on Sunday.

Mah-ae Brahim, 30, was arrested late on Friday for killing a 25-year-old British tourist identified by police as Mark Roland Lemette. Brahim, described as a part-time tour guide, had been living with his Thai wife in the town of Sungai Kolok, where Lemette's body was found on Friday in a rubber plantation near the Malaysian border.

"It was a robbery as belongings from the British tourist were found at Brahim's house," police Major Chalerm Yingkong said. Police also found Brahim's blood-stained clothing believed to have been worn on the night of the killing.

Police said Lemette had crossed into Thailand from Malaysia on Thursday. Brahim, who faces the death penalty if convicted, denied involvement in the murder, Maj Chalerm said. -AFP