HONG KONG (AFP) - Hong Kong police said Thursday they had arrested a 24-year-old man in connection with the recent murders of two prostitutes.

"We arrested the local Chinese man in connection with the murder of a 38-year-old Thai woman last week," a police spokesman told AFP.

Police found the prostitute lying unconscious on a bed inside a one-woman brothel after receiving a robbery report on January 31. She was rushed to hospital but declared dead on arrival.

The spokesman added that the man was also suspected in the murder of a 46-year-old prostitute in Kowloon on January 10.

He said the man had been detained but had not yet been charged.

The two killings were among three prostitute murders in the city in as many weeks.

Prostitutes are seen as easy targets for criminals in Hong Kong, where prostitution is legal but living off its proceeds or running brothels is not.

The rules mean sex workers cannot hire security guards and often have no option but to set up one-woman brothels.

Five of the 36 people murdered in the city last year were prostitutes, according to police statistics.