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Topic:Law, Crime and Justice
Sat 27 Jun 2026 at 2:39pm
An Australian man has been arrested in Thailand in connection with the discovery of the body of a teenage girl found stuffed inside a suitcase.
Simon Carman, 45, was arrested on Friday evening at the Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok.
Mr Carman has been charged with four offences, including murder, which carries the death penalty or life in prison. Police said he denies the charges.
An Australian man has been arrested in Thailand as investigations continue into the discovery of the body of a teenage girl found stuffed inside a suitcase.
Simon Carman, 45, was arrested on Friday evening at the Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok.
Police allege he picked up Tunchanok Donhomla, 17, from the Beach Road vice strip in Pattaya in the early hours of Thursday morning, local time.
Her friends reported her missing on Friday afternoon after they did not hear from her.
Police retraced her last moments to the hotel room that she had entered with Mr Carman.
Police found Ms Tunchanok's naked body in a black suitcase alongside a railway line, about 10 minutes' drive from the hotel where Mr Carman had been staying.
Officers questioned the 45-year-old on suspicion of murder, which carries the death penalty or life in prison.
Police Colonel Anek Sarathongyu, Superintendent of the Pattaya City Police Station, said Mr Carman had initially been charged with "taking a minor for the purpose of committing an indecent act".
"We believe he killed her, and he is being questioned on suspicion of murder," he said.
"He has fingernail scratches across his body that are consistent with a struggle, but he denies killing her.
"He said that she disappeared from the room while I was asleep and unaware of anything."
Tunchanok Donhomla, 17, is believed to have been murdered and stuffed into a suitcase. (Supplied: Pattaya Police)
Pattaya police said Mr Carman has been charged with four offences, including murder and burying, concealing, moving or destroying a body to conceal the death or cause of death.
He has also been charged with offences relating to "taking a minor for indecent purposes".
Lieutenant Colonel Kanoknun Sooksri, the investigator in charge of the case, told the ABC Mr Carman had denied all of the charges.
The ABC understands that Mr Carman is now in detention in Pattaya Prison.
In a video taken after his arrest, Mr Carmen was asked about scratches on his neck.
"I think it's a spider; they always get in here," he said.
Police allege Simon Carman picked up Tunchanok Donhomla from the Beach Road vice strip in Pattaya. (Supplied: Pattaya police)
Officers found security camera vision that appeared to show Mr Carman leaving the hotel at 9:34pm on Thursday night with a black suitcase matching the luggage that the teenager's body was found in.
Pattaya police are questioning Simon Carman. (Supplied: Pattaya Police)
Surveillance footage allegedly showed him riding a motorcycle with the suitcase strapped to the back.
He then sped alongside the railway tracks, disappearing from view for nine minutes, before being picked up again on camera and returning to his hotel.
After the report at 5pm on Friday that Ms Tunchanok was missing, officers arrested the Australian two hours later at the country's main airport in Bangkok.
Simon Carman was arrested in Thailand on Friday night. (AP/ViralPress)
He was driven in a police car back to Pattaya, over 100 kilometres south of Bangkok.
Ms Tunchanok's body was found at 11pm on Friday, local time.
"She was completely naked, her face showed signs of severe assault, with swelling and bruising covering the entire face, and blood was flowing from her mouth and nose," Mr Sarathongyu said.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in a statement to the ABC that it was providing consular assistance to an Australian detained in Thailand.
Sat 27 Jun 2026 at 2:39pm
Sat 27 Jun 2026 at 5:07pm
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