A 40-year-old man from Dublin has been arrested in Thailand after the murder of a young woman in a tourist town at the weekend.
The murdered woman, named as Bupha Tanchiangpin from northeast Thailand, was found in an apartment in Banglamuang, Pattaya, 128 kilometres east of Bangkok, late on Sunday.
Her hands had been tied behind her back and she had been stabbed 20 times in the back, neck and face.
The Irishman was apprehended by Thai police before reaching the Cambodian border town of Poipet when the driver of the taxi in which he was travelling alerted them.
The taxi driver, had accepted a €90 fare but called the local police on his mobile phone. They were waiting when he pulled into a petrol station to fill up.
After his arrest, the Irishman was taken back to Pattaya.
If found guilty, he could face the death sentence, which is carried out in Thailand using a lethal injection.
A spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs said the man's family had not made contact with them. "The consular section here and the nearest Irish Embassy in Kuala Lumpar, Malaysia have got in contact with the honorary consul in Bangkok to see what assistance is needed," he said.
