An Australian expatriate accused of killing a Thai teenager and allegedly placing her unclothed body inside a suitcase has been described by one local as “a bit abnormal”.
Simon Peter Carman, 45, is being detained at Pattaya Prison after 17-year-old Tunchanok Donhomla was discovered dead near railway tracks.
The two are believed to have met early Thursday morning on Beach Road, a well-known nightlife strip lined with bars and women and referred to locally as “Coconut Bar”, before returning to his condominium, where police allege a dispute over payment erupted.
Carman has been charged with murder and is expected to contest the allegations. Ms Donhomla’s grieving parents have called for the death penalty if he is found guilty.
People in the Thai resort city have since spoken about Carman’s life in Thailand, as further details have emerged about the hours leading up to the alleged killing.
Carman had lived for about eight months at the Rimhad Jomtien Condominium complex, a property popular with foreign residents seeking a quieter lifestyle. He reportedly worked as a handyman and generally kept to himself.
Neighbours said he was often seen at the ground-floor bar or carrying out odd jobs around the complex, and he was not regarded as a heavy drinker.
One woman who said she spoke with Carman almost every day described his behaviour as “a bit abnormal”.
Simon Peter Carman, 45, is currently being held in Pattaya Prison after Tunchanok Donhomla, 17, was found dead near railway tracks
Sources in the Thai party city say Carman had been living for eight months in the Rimhad Jomtien Condominium complex
‘He speaks slowly and looks at things for a long time,’ she told The Australian.
‘But he lived like a normal expat, swimming, eating out, walking along the beach when he couldn’t sleep.’
The woman said Carman did not seem to be aggressive and that he would sometimes get angry with drunk people causing a racket in the building.
‘Drunk people can be very rude, so that [reaction] is just normal,’ she said.
‘When I heard the news, I couldn’t believe it.’
Carman paid $100 a week in rent and lived a quiet double life, doing odd jobs by day and working in a local bar.
‘He worked at Laks, that’s the bar, and was doing maintenance on some of the apartments,’ one source told the Daily Telegraph.
‘The guy who owns the bar owns a few units, so he looked after them. He was a quiet person – he didn’t usually bring girls back.’
Ms Donhomla was found dead inside a suitcase alongside a railway line
The parents of a Thai girl who was allegedly murdered have broken down in tears
The former truckie had reportedly been living alone in a Rockingham industrial estate before he moved to Thailand, with neighbours saying he was on medication for a bad back and allegedly kept firearms before police confiscated them.
One source said nobody in the building had heard anything on the night Ms Donhomla was allegedly killed.
‘The young girl did have an ID card that said she was 22, all of the girls here have ID cards that say they are older, because if they’re underage, you’re in trouble,’ they said.
Investigators claim the pair had agreed on a payment before an argument broke out stating Carman allegedly told authorities they had agreed he would pay the teen 1,000 baht (AU$43.45), but the pair had an argument when he offered 500 baht (AU$21.72).
Carman has allegedly told police he acted in self-defence after being attacked.
Police allege Ms Donhomla’s naked body was crammed into a suitcase and dumped near railway tracks – just ten minutes away from Carman’s condominium.
CCTV allegedly shows Carman wheeling a black suitcase from his hotel before strapping it to a motorbike and driving away.
A missing persons report was made by a friend of Ms Donhomla and Carman was arrested at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport just minutes before he was due to board a flight to Perth.
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CCTV allegedly showed the Thai teenager and the Australian tourist holding hands as they walked into an elevator
Carman wheeling a black suitcase can allegedly be seen leaving the condo
Police later located the suitcase in long grass, with Ms Donhomla’s belongings, including her white Onitsuka trainers she wore in the video with Carman, jeans, underwear, a mobile phone case, a wallet, her gold bracelet and necklace.
Thai authorities have charged Carman with murder, concealing a body, moving a body and offences relating to a minor.
In Thailand, a murder conviction can carry the death penalty.
In taped interviews police have released online, Carman addressed Ms Donhomla’s family.
‘I feel bad for what happened to your daughter,’ he said.
‘It was out of my control. I know you’ll be very sad, upset, same, same me. It shouldn’t happen, and I hope you’re OK. I know you’re not, but I hope, and please tell other girls … to be careful.’
He allegedly told investigators that Ms Donhomla had attacked him with a knife, and that he acted in self-defence.
Asked by an officer if he killed the girl, Carman said, ‘No’.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is ‘providing consular assistance to the Australian detained in Thailand’ (pictured, Carman allegedly seen on CCTV riding a scooter)
The 17-year-old known as ‘Nong Cake’ was allegedly murdered and her body put in the suitcase. The bag was then allegedly wheeled from the condo, put on the back of a motorbike and pitched from the vehicle onto a railway line siding
Ms Donhomla was found stuffed inside a suitcase alongside a railway line
He was asked about the visible scratches and bruises on his neck and arms.
On camera, Carman said the marks were due to ‘the spiders’ which he said were ‘always’ coming out at the condominium where he stayed.
The teen’s parents, Thongchai Donhomla and Ordee Butrakhamare, both 46, who made the journey to Pattaya to collect her remains from their home in the northeast Thailand province of Kalasin, told local media that Ms Donhomla had only arrived in Pattaya days before her death.
It was her first visit to the town infamous for its wild nightlife, but her parents had let her go with a friend because she had a helpful attitude and never had any issues with drugs.
Ms Donhomla’s dad, Thongchai, said he is ‘deeply saddened’.
‘My daughter had no mother so whenever she wanted anything she would find a way herself, and she always helped me too,’ he said.
Ms Donhomla’s stepmother, Oradee Bussarakum, said: ‘I told the police I want him executed. As a stepmother I don’t know what else to say. I just want him executed.’
Carman had told people he was from Ballarat in Victoria, though it’s understood he grew up in regional Western Australia.
The Daily Mail can reveal that Carman is a British-born tradie who runs a mobile refuelling service between Perth and regional Victoria.
He has a lengthy history with Western Australian Police, having been charged with disorderly behaviour in a public place, driving while disqualified and demanding property with threats.
Yet inside the high-rise where the alleged killing unfolded, there was little sign anything had happened at all.
A red ribbon hung on the door of apartment 20 on level 15 of the A3 building but by Sunday, the scene was eerily calm, with no visible trace of the violence police allege took place.
