A British tourist has been killed and his friend badly injured in a knife attack in Thailand.

The incident happened in the early hours of Saturday in Kanchanaburi.

Thai police have said they were called to a house – thought to belong to the victim’s girlfriend – in the Muang district in the early hours of the morning and found the 49-year-old victim outside lying face down in a pool of blood with knife wounds to his neck.

Kanchanaburi officers added that another man, 55, was taken to hospital with serious injuries and had an operation on his skull and collarbone.

A sickle-shaped knife was recovered by officers at the scene of the attack.

Police said the alleged attacker was a local resident and had been found hiding later in the nearby property of a relative.

The man, aged in his 20s, was has been taken into custody and police have said he is being given psychiatric support.

Police are investigating allegations the suspect may have gone to the house due to loud music being played in the middle of the night.

A spokesman for the UK Foreign Office said: “We are in contact with the Royal Thai Police following the death of one British man and the hospitalisation of another in Thailand and are ready to provide consular support.”