A Canadian woman in Thailand says she was saved by her friend who was allegedly shot twice by a Thai police officer, who then fired a bullet into her chest.

"He saved my life by giving his own," Carly Reisig told The Canadian Press by phone from her hospital bed.

A Thai police officer has been charged with premeditated murder following the shooting death of Reisig's partner, Calgary resident John Leo Del Pinto, 25.

Police Col. Sombat Panya of Pai district, in northern Mae Hong Son, said Monday that the officer told investigators that the shooting was an accident.

However, Sombat said the officer has been charged with premeditated murder, reports The Associated Press.

Pinto died early Sunday after being hit with two bullets -- one to the face and one to the torso. Reisig remains in hospital after a bullet grazed her upper left torso.

From her hospital bed in northern Thailand, Reisig told CP she was struck by a bullet that came within 2.5 centimetres of her heart -- and that she was near death on Sunday night.

Earlier reports suggested Reisig was pregnant, but she told CP the report is false.

She also denied a statement by Sombat that she and Del Pinto had been in a fight near the restaurant in Pai, Thailand, where the shooting took place.

According to Reisig, she was talking to Del Pinto when a man punched her in the forehead. She said Del Pinto defended her and the man pulled a gun.

She said Del Pinto was shot in the face and the stomach and that then she was shot.

In an earlier report, Sombat claimed the couple was arguing, that their argument turned physical outside the bar and when Sgt. Uthai Dechawiwat tried to intervene, the couple attacked him.

The officer told investigators that Del Pinto tried to grab his pistol and then the gun "accidentally went off" three times, said Sombat.

Despite the claim, Uthai was charged with premeditated murder in Del Pinto's death and with "intent to kill" in connection with Reisig's shooting. The officer has been released on bail.

The couple had been renting a home in Mae Hong Son, located on the border with Myanmar, for several years. They reportedly took regular trips in and out of Thailand to have their short-term tourist visas extended.

A Canadian Embassy spokesman in Bangkok was not immediately available for comment.

With files from The Canadian Press and The Associated Press