Mark LemettiA backpacker from Warminster has been battered to death while travelling across Thailand. The body of Mark Lemetti, 24, was found last Friday in a rubber plantation near Sungai Kolok, in south Thailand.

Thai police have arrested a Pakistani man suspected of robbing and beating Mr Lemetti to death with a pool cue.

Useng Makbu, 32, has been charged with murder, theft and living in Thailand without proper documentation and will face the death penalty if found guilty.

Mr Lemetti, who inherited his father's passion for travel, had been backpacking across South East Asia for just over a month and was on the last leg of his tour.

Mark's uncle, Thomas Lemetti, from Denny in Scotland, said: "He was a lovely lad, very easy-going. He never worried about things and he liked travelling.

"His mother and father are obviously very distraught."

Mr Lemetti's parents, Roland and Barbara, moved to Wiltshire last year.

Roland's cousin, Michael Lemetti, added that Mark was a wonderful boy.

"He loved travelling just like his father," he said.

"He wanted to go backpacking and it's just so unfortunate what happened, the family are devastated."

Mr Lemetti spent much of his childhood in Hong Kong before attending Dollar Academy in Clackmannanshire and then going to university in Scotland where he gained a degree in ecology.

Thai police believe Mr Lemetti was robbed for his mobile phone, clothes, toiletries, and £100 cash, before being dumped in the rubber plantation.

Makbu was arrested at his home in the Sungai Kolok district of the southern Narathiwat province after trying to flee on Saturday.

Captain Chalerm Yingkong said a witness told police they had seen the suspect with Mr Lemetti before his death.

"When we went to his house, the suspect fled when he saw police by climbing out on his roof and running across his rooftop. But the roof caved in and he fell," Captain Yingkong said.

Police said they searched the suspect's house and found a camera, cell phone, shoes toiletries and documents that belonged to Mr Lemetti who had travelled through Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia.

The Foreign Office has advised travellers to avoid southern Thailand unless it is absolutely necessary, following recent terrorist attacks and civil unrest.

However, Captain Yingkong said he believed that the attack was motivated by robbery and not linked to the violence that has swept the area.

A spokeswoman for Rough Guides, who offer travel advice, said: "This is an extremely tragic incident for all who knew Mark.

"My advice to travellers would be to research and plan for your visit as much as possible and ultimately trust your instinct about the places you go and the people you meet."

A spokesman for the Wiltshire Constabulary said: "The exact circumstances of the man's death remain unclear at this point and no further information can be provided by the family.

"The man's body will be repatriated in due course to Wiltshire.

"When the circumstances become clear the family may issue a family statement. In the meantime they are asking everyone to respect their privacy at this very difficult time."