BANGKOK, May 21, 2009 (AFP) - Thai police arrested a Briton in Bangkok's red light district after he spent eight months on the run for allegedly embezzling US$150 million ($219.6 million) from a company in Dubai, police said Thursday.

Michael Bryan Smith, 43, was caught in the capital's notorious Nana area on Wednesday night after authorities in the United Arab Emirates sought Thailand's assistance, police told a press conference.

Smith allegedly siphoned off other workers' salaries into his own bank account while working as a personnel manager at a Dubai property company, Thai police said, citing the warrant from the UAE.

Police said Smith, who is married to a Thai woman, had travelled extensively through Vietnam, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Thailand after fleeing Dubai.

They said Smith had denied all charges and his case would be handed to the Attorney General's Office for extradition to face charges in the UAE.