Get you up to speed: ‘Sex tourist’ faces death penalty after body of girl, 17, found naked in suitcase | News World
The body of 17-year-old Tunchanok Donhomla was discovered in a suitcase in Pattaya, Thailand, after she was reported missing. Australian tourist Simon Carman has been arrested and is being questioned on suspicion of her murder.
Police have charged Simon Carman with initially taking a minor for the purpose of committing an indecent act, while investigators believe he is also connected to Tunchanok Donhomla’s death. Evidence gathered includes CCTV footage and fingernail scratches on Carman’s body, suggesting a struggle took place.
The tragic case of Tunchanok Donhomla has prompted renewed calls for a crackdown on sex tourism in Thailand, as local authorities grapple with growing concerns over safety. In response to the allegations against Australian tourist Simon Carman, police intend to charge him with murder following the discovery of evidence suggesting a violent struggle.
What remains unclear — The exact circumstances leading to Tunchanok Donhomla’s death and whether Simon Carman’s account of her disappearance is credible have not been fully established.
Australian man faces death penalty after body of 17-year-old found in suitcase
Tunchanok Donhomla, 17, was last seen entering a hotel in Pattaya, a coastal city on Thailand’s Gulf coast (Picture: Pattaya City Police)
Last seen waiting hand-in-hand with a ‘mystery man’ for a lift to an apartment, the body of a teenage girl was found hours later stuffed into a suitcase and dumped in some bushes.
The suitcase was opened on national television revealing the corpse of Tunchanok Donhomla, known as ‘little cake’ to family, sparking fresh calls for a crackdown on sex tourism in Thailand.
The 17-year-old,known as ‘little cake’ to family, had been reported missing at 5pm local time on Friday.
CCTV footage, allegedly shows Ms Donhomla holding hands with Australian tourist Simon Carman in a condo lobby while waiting for an elevator shortly after 3.30am on Thursday.
Footage from between 9.25pm and 9.48pm, allegedly shows the tourist identified by police as Carman dragging a black suitcase out of the building and leaving on a motorbike with it strapped behind him.
Police allege Simon Carman picked up Tunchanok Donhomla from the Beach Road vice strip in Pattaya. (Picture: Pattaya police)
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As he crosses a railway line, he disappears from view for nine minutes but is seen returning to the hotel at 10.06pm without the suitcase.
A warrant was put out and Carman was arrested trying to board a plane back to Australia at Bangkok airport.
In an apology to the teenager’s family from custody, Carman said: ‘I feel bad for what happened to your daughter; it was out of my control.
‘Um, I know you will be very sad, upset, same me. It shouldn’t happen and I hope you okay, I know you’re not, but I hope.
‘Please tell other girls … just to be careful.’
Carman Simon Peter is filmed apologising to the victim’s family (Picture: Reuters)
According to Thai media, he said he had not known Ms Tunchanok before they met in Pattaya and went to his condo, and that they initially agreed on a payment of 1,000 baht (£20) but they got into a heated argument after he offered just 500 baht (£10) instead.
Anek Sarathongyu, Superintendent of the Pattaya City Police, said 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 [he] was asleep and unaware of anything.’
‘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.
‘I think it’s a spider; they always get in here,’ he told them.
In Thailand’s criminal code, being convicted for murder can carry the death penalty or between 15 and 20 years’ inprisonment.
Police release their version of events in timeline
June 25, 3.34am: CCTV footage from a condo lobby shows Carman and Ms Tunchanok walking hand-in-hand and entering an elevator.
June 25, 9.25pm to 9.48pm: CCTV captures Carman dragging a large suitcase out of his room and leaving the condo on a motorcycle with the suitcase strapped to the back. He then sped alongside the railway tracks, disappearing from view for nine minutes.
June 25, 9.57pm to 10.06pm: CCTV footage shows Carman returning to the accommodation.
June 26, 11.36am: A friend lodged a missing person report for Ms Tunchanok, telling police they had last seen her with a foreign man.
June 26, 2.26pm: Carman is seen leaving his condo.
June 26, no time provided: Police gather evidence to request an arrest warrant from the Pattaya Court. Officers find Mr Carman’s passport during the inspection of a hotel room.
June 27, 1.15am: Investigative teams from the Pattaya City Police Station and the Immigration Bureau arrest Mr Carman at Suvarnabhumi Airport.
June 27, 1.30am: Police discover a suitcase near railway tracks about a 10-minute drive from Mr Carman’s hotel, which contains Ms Tunchanok’s body.
Her stepmother, Oradee Bussarakum, said she and the teenager’s father had tried but failed to contact her.
‘She sometimes helped her father and me by selling garlands or fruits at intersections on the road, during Songkran (water festival). We did not force her to work,’ Ms Oradee said.
‘She was still young, so sometimes we let her go out and gave her 50 to 100 baht (£1.70 – £2.40).
In a tearful interview outside a police station in Pattaya, Ms Tunchanok’s father, Thongchai Donholma, said ‘I am 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.
‘We were scared. We just hoped it wouldn’t turn out the way we feared,’ Ms Oradee added.
Police told the ABC, Carman denied all charges, and that he said she ‘disappeared from the room while I was asleep’.
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