A devastating homicide case in the popular Thai coastal resort of Pattaya has taken new procedural steps forward, with official autopsy results confirming the teenage victim died from suffocation, law enforcement authorities have confirmed publicly. The victim, identified locally as 17-year-old Tunchanok Donhomla, was found dead inside a suitcase abandoned near a railway line in the early hours of June 27. Just 15 minutes before the discovery of her remains, Pattaya police took 45-year-old Australian citizen Simon Peter Carman into custody on suspicion that he was preparing to flee Thailand to avoid prosecution.
Speaking to the British Broadcasting Corporation on Wednesday, Pattaya City Police Chief Anek Srathongyoo shared key details from the post-mortem examination. He confirmed that while the victim sustained brain injuries, those wounds did not cause her death. According to Anek, those injuries likely occurred after Tunchanok had already died, when the accused moved her body in the suitcase before abandoning it along the tracks. Investigators have also confirmed that DNA recovered from the victim’s body matches Carman’s genetic profile, with police saying the match most likely came from him handling the body while placing it into the bag.
Carman now faces four formal criminal charges: murder, concealment and movement of a deceased body, kidnapping of a minor between 15 and 18 years old, and taking a minor in that age group for an indecent act. Anek told reporters that Carman did not reject all allegations from the start of interrogation, admitting he had left the area with Tunchanok. Even if Carman enters a not guilty plea during upcoming court proceedings, Anek said investigators have compiled a complete, thorough evidence file and addressed all gaps in the case to prove the charges before the court.
Investigators are on track to submit the full case file to public prosecutors by this Friday, Anek confirmed, noting the September 18 statutory deadline to formally indict the accused. Previously released closed-circuit television footage places Carman and Tunchanok together at a local condominium at 3:34 a.m. local time on June 25. Later that same day, police say footage shows Carman leaving the building alone, dragging a large suitcase. He then loaded the suitcase onto a motorbike and traveled in the direction of the railway line where the body was eventually found.
Since his arrest, Carman has shifted his stance, initially offering a claim of self-defense to officers. He told police he had agreed to pay Tunchanok 1,000 Thai baht (equivalent to roughly $30 USD) for sexual services, but a dispute broke out when he only offered 500 baht after the pair returned to his rental apartment. In a recorded statement from custody, Carman addressed the victim’s family, saying, “I feel bad for what happened to your daughter. It was out of my control. I know you’ll be very sad, upset… same [as] me. Please tell other girls… just to be careful.”
The victim’s family, who spoke to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, shared that Tunchanok was an only child who lived with her father and stepmother in Kalasin Province, roughly 480 kilometers northeast of Pattaya. Known to loved ones by her nickname Cake, she told her family she was traveling to Pattaya for a holiday with a friend and left for the coastal city on June 16. Her father, Thongchai Donhomla, said he is deeply grieved by his daughter’s death, noting that “My daughter had no mother, so whenever she wanted anything, she would find a way herself, and she always helped me too.”
Her stepmother, Oradee Bussarakum, said the confirmation of Tunchanok’s death fulfilled the family’s worst fears. “We were scared. We just hoped it wouldn’t turn out the way we feared. Now our eyes are swollen from crying,” she said. Oradee has publicly called for the maximum punishment, saying “I just want [Carman] executed. I even asked the police if I could hit him, if I could beat him.” If Carman is ultimately convicted of murder under Thai law, he is eligible to receive the death penalty.