A nurse was found strangled to death on Thailand's idyllic White Lotus island.

Anchulee Wongmuang, 35, was reportedly murdered in her villa a two minute walk from a hospital on Koh Samui.

Her body was discovered on Wednesday morning after a concerned colleague could not reach her by phone.

Staff unlocked the room and discovered Anchulee sprawled on the floor wearing only black underwear. A shirt was wrapped tightly around her neck, while her face was covered with a green shirt.

Officers arrested suspect Suwat Khunthong, 30, on Thursday and he was forced to do a crime reenactment, seen in the video, before being attacked by the victim's angry friends and relatives.

Police Lieutenant Patdanai Thiangpranee of the Bo Phut district station said: 'There were scattered belongings on the floor next to the bed and a box of condoms was found. Officers blocked off the area to prevent anyone from entering the room.

'An initial inspection found abrasions and signs of trauma to the centre of her head. There were also dark strangulation marks around her neck. The body was sent to the Koh Samui Hospital for a more detailed examination.'

Neighbours claimed they heard Anchulee screaming for help at 2 am, but did not go to her room to investigate.

Her grey Nissan sedan was missing from the scene and was believed to have been stolen by her suspected killer.

Police reviewed CCTV footage in the area and discovered the vehicle travelling to a shopping mall along Chawaeng Beach some three miles from the crime scene. The driver was identified as Suwat Khunthong, 30, the boyfriend of Anchulee's neighbour.

Suwat was arrested in an abandoned pub near the beach after cops tracked down his phone signal.

Footage shows police hauling Suwat back to the staff dormitory to re-enact the alleged murder. Furious relatives tried to attack him as he was being dragged back to the police car.

The suspect, seen in the video wearing a motorcycle helmet, claimed: 'The back door of her room was open so I climbed inside to steal valuables. While I was there, she woke up and started screaming for help.

'I panicked and covered her mouth with my hand, but she fought back and kicked me. That's when I saw red. I wrapped my hands around her neck and choked her until she stopped moving. After that, I wrapped a shirt around her neck, then grabbed a gold ring and her car keys before escaping.'

Suwat said he was driven to theft allegedly to pay off a gambling debt. He said he was aware of Anchulee's schedule as he lived next door with his girlfriend, a nursing assistant at the hospital.

Police Colonel Denduang Thongsrisuk, superintendent of the Bo Phut Police Station, said: 'The suspect was charged for breaking, entering, theft, and murder. Officers took him for questioning at the Bo Phut police station.'

The horror murder occured as tourism on the island surges among US, British and European travellers following the success of The White Lotus's third season.

The Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui, which serves as the show's fictional setting, saw a tenfold increase in demand, its executive vice president Marc Speichert said.

The spike in interest, called the 'White Lotus Effect', also boosted tourism in the previous filming locations of Hawaii and Sicily.