On Monday Thai police announced that they had arrested the Bangkok taxi driver who confessed that he had pulled a 12-inch machete from his trunk and repeatedly slashed American Troy Lee Pilkington on July 6, according to the Associated Press.

Taxi driver Chidchai Utmacha reportedly told investigators that Pilkington accused him of rigging the taxi's meter and then stormed out of the cab while they sat in traffic on Bangkok's busy Sukhumvit Road.

He claimed the American threw a cup of coffee at him when he asked for the money, after which he pulled the knife from his trunk and chased Pilkington down the street.

The taxi fare was 51 baht ($US1.60).

Pilkington, 51, worked for Caterpillar and had lived in Thailand for more than three years.

Chidchai is facing charges of murder and carrying a weapon in public without reasonable cause.