Australian Man Accused of Murdering Teenager in Thailand Allegedly Planned Thailand Escape

An Australian man, Simon Peter Carman, 45, has been charged with the murder of 17-year-old Tunchanok Donhomla in Pattaya, Thailand, after her body was found stuffed in a suitcase. Carman was apprehended at Suvarnabhumi Airport on Friday night, minutes before his Jetstar flight to Perth, Western Australia, was scheduled to depart.

Pattaya police discovered Ms. Donhomla's body less than three hours after Carman's arrest, inside a 29-inch suitcase that contained her belongings and the clothes she was wearing when last seen. Authorities allege Carman transported the suitcase, strapped to his rented motorcycle, to a railway siding approximately ten minutes from his condominium.

CCTV footage reportedly shows Carman with Ms. Donhomla in his condominium building's elevator around 3:30 a.m. on Thursday. Later that night, around 9:30 p.m., he is seen leaving his condominium wheeling a black suitcase. Police allege he then rode his motorcycle to the railway line behind the Pattaya Floating Market to abandon the suitcase before returning to his residence to pack and leave.

Ms. Donhomla's family, from a poverty-stricken region in Thailand's north, stated she had traveled to Pattaya just 12 days prior to her death with a friend. She reportedly used a fake ID that increased her age by five years. Her father and stepmother are only a year older than Carman.

Carman has been charged with murder, concealment of a body, burying, moving or destroying a body to hide death or its cause, and taking a minor for indecent or sexual purposes. He faces the possibility of the death penalty or life imprisonment if convicted.

Reports indicate Carman had connections to Thai sex workers for over a decade and frequently traveled to Thailand. He had reportedly been living in Pattaya for at least eight months prior to his arrest. His social media activity also revealed he had spent time in Australia, working as a mechanic and truck driver, and had previously registered an agricultural services business. His family resides in a property in Albany, Western Australia.