PHUKET: An expat man with a Russian-Swedish background has had his throat stabbed in a murder at an exclusive property development in Phuket City, say Phuket police.

The man ran to the security guard at the gate of the exclusive property where he was staying about 9pm and called out ''Help! Help!'' while clutching his throat, which appeared to have been slashed with a knife, the guard told Phuketwan.

The hunt is now on for two men seen fleeing through a hole in a fence at the exclusive property to a side lane. In the lane, they pushed a resident off his motorcycle and rode away on it, police said.

One of two reporters at the scene in Kor Kaew, an upmarket part of Phuket City where many expats live, says the dead man's body was on the ground under a white sheet in The Lantern property development.

It is believed the man, a 25-year-old Russian who is a long-time Swedish resident, was a big-bike rider who lived on the premises.

He lived alone in half of a duplex while a friend and his Thai wife shared the other half of the three-storey units.

The friend, father of an infant, told a Phuketwan reporter that he had little to say but wanted to move out immediately.

He said his dead friend had family connections who owned two condominiums in Pattaya.

Police were called to the scene about 9.10pm and a large crowd had gathered 40 minutes later. One line of investigation is that the man may have been the victim of a Phuket motorcycle attack gang.

A pair of plastic wrist restraints were found at the scene. Part of the man's black t-shirt was also found nearby, indicating a fierce struggle.

The dead man was carrying a bag with an Apple computer and other items inside, as well as cash. He wore gold jewellery.

The Lantern is a ritzy estate, near the Royal Phuket Marina and Phuket's British International School.

The dead man is believed to have been living on the estate for about a month.

Earlier today, the two friends had been on a trip to Patong, on Phuket's west coast, then to Chalong, in Phuket's south, to meet friends.

On the way back, the man riding the motorcycle alone stopped at the Subway outlet at the Tesco Lotus supermarket on Phuket City's bypass road while the other man drove his car back to The Lantern, a few kilometres away.

The dead man's green Kawasaki, parked outside his duplex, appeared to have been damaged in a struggle.

Police said it would have been possible for the dead man to have been attacked and for his attacker to have fled through the hole in the side fence without the security guard being aware of what was happening.

Killings involving expats are relatively rare on Phuket.

If the investigation establishes that a murder has been committed, it will be Phuket's second expat murder this year.

On March 15, Phuket and Phi Phi resident Italian Luciano Butti was allegedly murdered by Thais at the behest of his partner, Denis Cavatassi, who is now in Phuket Prison awaiting trial.

On August 14 last year, Englishman Lee Aldhouse allegedly knifed to death American Dashawn Longfellow in southern Phuket. Aldhouse is currently being held in Britain, awaiting the outcome of an extradition hearing.

A Thai man who killed German expat resident Wolf-Dieter Kesselheim outside a 7-Eleven store on January 27 last year was caught and tried and sentenced to 13 years and four months jail on December 16.

The previous year, a Canadian property developer was shot dead outside his Phuket house and a Scotsman was battered to death in his Phuket City apartment in the same week.

The Canadian man's female Singaporean business associate was charged with hiring Thais to kill him. The killer of the Scotsman has never been caught.