An Australian business owner in Thailand is reportedly free on bail after murder charges were laid over a slaying outside a Phuket nightclub.

Mark Hamilton Pendlebury said he was walking home from a Rotary meeting on Wednesday around midnight when he began videoing a scuffle outside the Tai Pan nightclub on Phuket, according to an interview with the Phuketwan newspaper.

CCTV cameras did not capture the event, the newspaper reports.

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Mr Pendlebury said he was bashed and drew a knife to defend himself.

“I pulled out my camera to record what was happening and a security guard tried to stop me doing that. Before I knew it, I was being badly beaten up. I pulled out my knife and waved it back and forth to defend myself,” he was quoted as saying.

Nightclub guard Sanya Khluewaengmon, 26, reportedly died an hour and a half later from a stab wound.

Mr Pendlebury must regularly attend court and is reportedly receiving consular assistance.

Pictures of Mr Pendlebury in hospital with blood on his arms were posted by Phuketwan.