An Australian man has been taken into custody in connection with the alleged murder of a teenage girl in Thailand, after authorities reportedly discovered her naked body concealed inside a suitcase.
Tunchanok Donhomla, 17, was reportedly last seen shortly after 3.30am on Thursday entering a hotel in Pattaya, the seaside city on Thailand’s Gulf coast, according to local media.
Security footage viewed by Thai outlet Buzzin Pattaya allegedly shows the teenager, who was from Thailand’s Kalasin province, walking hand-in-hand with a man believed to be Simon Carman, 46, from Ballarat in Victoria.
Investigators allege Carman picked up Ms Tunchanok from Pattaya’s Beach Road red-light district in the early hours of Thursday morning.
Friends said they were unable to contact her after that and filed a missing person report at about 5pm local time on Friday.
Police later told Viral Press that officers found blood on the floor of the hotel room during a search.
Carman was arrested on Friday night at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport as he was allegedly trying to board a flight.
Viral Press reported that he allegedly had scratch marks across his arms and neck when he was detained.
A 46-year-old Victorian man, Simon Carman, has been arrested over the alleged murder of a teenage girl in Thailand
It is alleged Carman, from Ballarat, picked up the teenager from the town’s Beach Road vice strip in the early hours of Thursday morning. Her friends said they did not hear from her again
Carman has denied the allegation of murder
In a shocking discovery, Ms Tunchanok’s naked body was found in a 26-inch black suitcase beside a railway line about 10 minutes from the hotel at 11pm on Friday.
‘The suspect has initially been charged with taking a minor for the purpose of committing an indecent act,’ Superintendent of the Pattaya City Police Station Police Colonel Anek Sarathongyu told Viral Press.
‘We believe he (allegedly) killed her, and he is being questioned on suspicion of murder.
‘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 [he] was asleep and unaware of anything.’
Police also say CCTV appears to show Carman leaving the hotel at 9.34pm on Thursday with a black suitcase similar to the one Ms Tunchanok was found in.
Separate surveillance footage allegedly shows him on a motorcycle with the suitcase strapped to the back.
In video filmed during the man’s arrest by local media, a reporter is heard asking the Australian how Ms Tunchanok died, to which the tourist replies: ‘I don’t know how, no.’
CCTV shows Ms Tunchanok holding hands with a man and entering a hotel before she disappeared
A man believed to be Carman is seen wheeling a suitcase
In a shocking discovery, Ms Tunchanok’s naked body was found in a 26-inch black suitcase beside a railway line about 10 minutes from the hotel at 11pm on Friday
Emergency services are seen at the scene of where the girl’s body was found near train tracks
Carman was also asked about the scratches.
‘I have the same on the other side, I think it’s a spider, they always get in here,’ he said.
If convicted, the maximum penalty for murder is death, although such sentences are rare.
A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson told the Daily Mail the organisation is providing consular assistance to an Australian detained in Thailand.
‘Owing to our privacy obligations we are unable to provide further comment,’ they said.
Consular assistance can include visits to prisons to monitor welfare, liaising with local authorities regarding an Australian’s well-being, and providing lists of local lawyers and assistance.
