PHUKET: An man who says he is an American is in police custody on Phuket after being accused of robbing two female tourists at knife-point last night.

The man, who gave his name and age as Jack Bordes, 27, is alleged to have snatched the bags of an Australian woman and a Finnish woman in successive knife-point hold-ups within minutes of each other.

Phuket police say the man, whose passport has yet to be produced, denied any connection with the stick-ups and said his mother was flying from the US to post bail.

Officers at Chalong Police Station in southern Phuket say that the Australian woman, named as Amanda Jo Reed, was stopped as she walked down a narrow footpath in Ketwan Road,a side street in the popular west coast holiday destination of Kata beach.

Bordes pulled up on a motorcycle alongside her about 9.30pm and pulled the knife, demanding her belongings, police said.

After a brief struggle, Bordes made off with the woman's bag. She alerted people in the vicinity to what had occurred and was taken to talk to police.

As this was happening, Bordes pulled another robbery in the same street, police allege.

This time, according to police, his victim was a Finnish tourist, named as Ritua Walli.

Bordes used his knife to cut a strap on her clutch bag and sped off, officers say.

A man answering the description provided by the two women was arrested about 10pm outside the Island View Resort, in nearby Karon Road, police said.

The man, who said his name was Bordes, directed officers to several addresses in search of his passport, but it has yet to be produced.

In the man's motorcycle police found gold watches, a Nokia mobile telephone, a camera, 13,760 baht, $200 in US and Australian currency, a computer tablet, an Acer computer notebook, and a knife similar to the one described by the two women.

Police investigations are continuing, with the man being held at Chalong Police Station.