THE man charged over the fatal assault of Australian tourist in a Thai red-light district had killed before.

Thai police have charged an American with manslaughter of Melbourne man Benjamin Robb, 42, who died after a ferocious beating last Friday.

Local media reports have named Jose Manuel Polanco Jr, 43, as Mr Robb’s attacker. He will appear in court within the next week.

Polanco was charged with murder in the second degree by North Miami Police in 1993. Court documents seen by news.com.au reveal Polanco, who was then a teenager, killed Michael Cooper after receiving $20 for looking at a problem with Mr Cooper’s car.

“[He] told detectives where he disposed of the murder weapon, which was not recovered, and where he disposed of his own bloody clothing, which was recovered,” the court documents stated.

He was initially sentenced to 12 years in jail but was released after two years behind bars when the charge was downgraded to manslaughter with a firearm. After he was released he spent five years on probation.

He was charged, but not convicted, of carrying a concealed weapon and grand theft auto.

Thai police allege Polanco beat Mr Robb to death by repeatedly punching him, causing him to fall to the ground. He died later in hospital of a brain bleed.

Mr Polanco initially fled the Ruby Club, in notorious Pattaya, south of Bangkok, but then surrendered to authorities hours later.

Mr Polanco has denied the charges and said he was acting in self defence during the fight. He’s expected to remain in custody while a re-enactment of the incident is carried out.

The Bangkok Post reports the fight began after Mr Polanco intervened on behalf of a Thai woman.

Pattaya police captain Sombat Kaewpoonmuk told News Corp the fight erupted when Polanco became upset with how Mr Robb was treating bar staff.

“[Mr Robb] was teasing one of the servers by squeezing her neck, pulling her up so her feet left the ground,” Captain Kaewpoonmuk said.

A Bangkok Post report said Mr Robb’s actions caused the woman’s face to “turn blue”.

“Polanco saw the incident and told [Mr Robb] to stop it, (he) didn’t stop and started fighting, hitting him a number of times,” Captain Kaewpoonmuk said.

But a Pattaya source suggested the men who were with Polanco were giving a false account of what went on at the bar before the violence began.

The source said there were “three to four Americans, some pretending to be Canadian and Australian telling the story that it was a punch, and he was choking the girl”.

A witness claimed on social media that Mr Robb was attacked by up to five men and his head repeatedly stomped on. But friends of Mr Robb told news.com.au there was only one attacker and he was the victim of a “coward punch”.

“Ben hit his head on the ground hard after the American guy punched him in the face,” one said. “It was a coward punch. There is an investigation going on right now.”

The friend said witness reports that Mr Robb had his head stomped on and was targeted in a pack attack weren’t accurate and had upset the family.

PATTAYA: Police have charged an American who allegedly punched an Australian who died later in the resort town on Friday eveninghttps://t.co/O4pBKTw70khttps://t.co/bkWRCTDsds — ข่าว ประเทศไทย (@mffun_news) February 12, 2018

“This is a good Aussie guy who has been killed,” the friend said.

Mr Robb’s friends account of the fight differs from what police allege happen —they say Polanco struck him a number of times.

The witness claimed the men Palanco was with took photographs as Mr Robb lay on the ground dying.

“Barstools were flying everywhere and I’m pretty sure some other customers and maybe even girls were hit. The guy was totally out of control,” the witness wrote on the Pattaya 24/7 Facebook group.

“He was conscious but his face looked horrible.”

Both Mr Robb and his attacker had been drinking heavily in the bar for several hours before the fatal fight.

The Ruby Club promotes itself as a venue that “knows how to heat things up and bring a flirty mood to your night out with there selection of fun girls all dedicated to putting a smile on your face. Come Join The Fun At Ruby Club!”

Its website boasts of having “five comfortable rooms close to the action” alongside pictures of scantily clad young women.

A statement from the Ruby Club management said: “An altercation lasting less than 20 seconds between two customers on Friday night resulted in one person being taken to hospital with serious looking injuries, which sadly resulted in him passing away in the early hours of Saturday morning. No other customer or staff member was injured during the incident.

The other individual involved handed himself in to police and it is understood he is to remain in custody until a court appearance in 10 days or so.”

It continued: “Whilst our thoughts remain with the victims relatives, we would also like to thank the emergency services for their prompt and professional attention in dealing with the incident.”

The Department of Foreign Affairs has confirmed the man’s death.

“DFAT is providing consular assistance to the family,” a spokesman said.

Know more? Email: andrew.koubaridis@news.com.au