PHUKET: Two judges sentenced two men today to life in jail for the killing of Australian travel agent Michelle Smith. The men were told their sentences would have been death, but were commuted to life in prison because they pleaded guilty.

Surasak ''Boy'' Suwannachot, 26, wielded the knife that killed Mrs Smith, 60, a mother of three, and Surin Taptong, 37, drove the getaway motorcycle. The sentences in Phuket Provincial Court ended a three day trial.

The pair committed the killing on June 20 and have been sentenced within seven weeks. After hearing the final evidence today, the judges considered their verdict for 30 minutes.

Phuket Prison only holds inmates serving sentences of 15 years or shorter, so the two men are likely to be incarcerated in Bangkok.

While the documents are being prepared, they will be held on Phuket. The men were also fined small amounts for carrying a weapon.

Surasak was fined 50 baht - less than A$2 - and Surin, who owned the knife, was fined 66 baht.

The verdicts bring to a conclusion a murder case that made headlines all around the world, but especially in Australia. Concern among travel agents who support Phuket as a destination for 400,000 visitors a year led to alarm in Canberra and Bangkok.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra sent two of Thailand's top policemen to Phuket to oversee the pursuit of the killing suspects, and to plan how best to make Phuket a more secure place - not just for Australians but for tourists from all over the world.

Internet travel chat sites and news reports have spread reports about random incidents of violence. While the murder of a tourist is rare, more frequent accounts of tuk-tuk drivers behaving like thugs and jet-ski operators engaging in rip-offs have taken the sheen off Phuket's reputation.

Some people say that barely a night passes in Patong, the holiday hub on Phuket's west coast, without an incident involving some kind of violence.

Australia's honorary consul on Phuket, Larry Cunningham, goes further and says many of the criminals targeting tens of thousands of Australian tourists are never brought to justice. Some even have official protection, he says.

Mr Cunningham - perhaps Phuket's most outspoken envoy - said he hopes today's sentencing sends a warning to Phuket's tuk-tuk taxi drivers and jet-ski operators who rip off tourists, sometimes using violence.

''The major problem has always been the application of the law in Phuket where assaults continue unabated virtually every night and there are little or no arrests of the guilty parties, mainly because they have patronage protection,'' he told two of Australia's best-selling broadsheet newspapers.

Evidence of change is still largely unseen so far. There has been no public response yet to the call by Australian Ambassador James Wise to wipe all illegal weapons - especially knives and guns - from Phuket.

The vast majority of visitors have a great time on Phuket and return home safely, although British Ambassador Asif Ahmad noted recently that an increasing number of tourists are complaining about high tuk-tuk and taxi fares and excessive prices. That means many will not come back to Phuket.

Mr Cunningham was at pains to point out today that Phuket remained a ''wonderful place to holiday where Australians come and enjoy the Thai hospitality.''

He added that some of the problems were created by tourists. A tiny number of Australians were poor examples and their behavior was embarrassing.

Greed and lack of foresight are among Phuket's biggest problems, with beaches that were once among the best in the world being privatised for a quick profit instead of being maintained and properly protected for generations to come.

Michelle Smith's death will always be a tragedy for her family and for Phuket, but her legacy may be the beginning of a better island for tourists, and for residents, too.