A knife-wielding mugger instantly regretted attacking this computer geek - who wrestled him to the ground and chased him away.

The would-be robber was seen on CCTV sneaking up on Thawatchai Lhawongsa, 49, at an internet cafe in Nonthaburi, Thailand, on November 7.

Chillingly, he produced an eight-inch-long army knife from his pocket before pouncing on Thawatchai and holding the blade to his throat.

However, what happened next was like a scene from the multi-player battle game that Thawatchai was engrossed in.

The self-confessed computer nerd grabbed the attacker's wrist and bravely spun round in his seat to face him.

As the pair tussled in front of the shocked shopkeeper, Thawatchai overpowered his attacker and disarmed the knife. He pushed him to the ground and chased him out of the shop.

Thawatchai said: ''I'm a fully-grown man and this guy was just a kid. My instinct was to fight back. I saw he had a knife so I was just concentrating on disarming that. He was scared when he realised I was fighting back.''

The attacker managed to escape with a small bag, which did not contain any valuables.

He was later identified as Yuttachai Lamo, 21, after his father became suspicious and frogmarched him to the police station.

The alleged mugger blamed a debt from online gaming. He said he had seen the victim in the Internet cafe before and knew that he had money.

He said: "I know this guy, he used to help me out when I wanted to play on the computers. I saw him carrying the bag so I thought he might have had cash. I decided to mug him because I needed more money to play online games."

Police at the Pak Kret district police station said that Yuthachai had previously been convicted of a robbery. They remanded him in custody while the charges are prepared.

Police Colonel Siraphop Anusiri said: ''This young man's offending has not stopped so this time the punishment will be more severe.''

Yuthachai could face up to ten years in prison if he is convicted of armed robbery and ''threatening the life of another person with a force and a weapon''.