Australian tourist admits killing Thai girl, 17, and stuffing body in suitcase in argument over money
An Australian tourist today admitted killing a Thai teenager - claiming he acted in self-defence when she held a knife to his throat in a row over payment for sex.
Simon Carman, 45, from Ballarat, Victoria, picked up petite Tunchanok Donhomla, 17, from the beach in the notorious coastal town of Jomtien in Pattaya, Thailand, in the early hours of Thursday morning.
They were seen walking away hand-in-hand before arriving at the hotel. But Simon claims that Tunchanok then made excuses to leave while demanding 500 baht (11.35 GBP / 21.72 AUD)
The Aussie claims she then produced a knife and a struggle ensued, in which he accidentally choked her to death before stuffing her body into a suitcase and dumping it alongside a railway line later that evening.
Carman was arrested at the Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok as he tried to flee the country. Officers said today that when Carman was shown the evidence, he confessed to killing Tunchanok.
He is to be charged with ‘intentional homicide', which carries the death penalty.
Speaking softly, the Aussie allegedly told police: ‘I met her at the beach, took her back to my room. But when we were there, she had a phone call and said she couldn't stay.
‘She said she was on her period. She said she was leaving and wanted 500 baht for her time. I was going to give it to her, then she changed her mind and asked for more.
‘We started arguing and she pulled a knife. She held it against my throat. I tried to take if off, and we were fighting. I choked her wth my right hand while I was using my left hand to hold down her hand with the knife.
‘She went limp and stopped breathing. I stuffed her body into a suitcase and kept it in the bathroom for over a full day. I didn't know what to do so I put the case on my motorcycle and threw it by the railway tracks.
‘I want to apologise to the girl's family. I had no intention of killing her. It was self-defence.'
Police said that an interpreter and a lawyer were present while Carman was interrogated. They said his fingerprints were taken, and he was moved to the Pattaya Provincial Court, where prosecutors will charge him with intentional homicide, taking and transporting a minor aged 15 but under 18 for indecent purposes, and concealing, moving, or destroying a corpse.
The maximum penalty for intentional homicide in Thailand is the death penalty. If there are mitigating factors, Carman could face life in prison.
Friends of Tunchanok, from Kalasin province, said she had been living in Bangkok before moving to Pattaya, where she began working on the city's notorious vice strip, Beach Road and the nearby Jomtien Beach.
She had been standing in front of the sea when Carman approached her on Thursday at around 3am, before agreeing to have sex with him.
They were seen on CCTV walking through the lobby before getting in a lift together. Carman emerged at 9:25 pm on the same day, hauling a 26-inch suitcase containing the naked body of Tunchanok, which he strapped to the back of his scooter.
Worried friends of the petite teenager reported her missing the next day, on Friday at 5 pm.
Police retraced her last moments to the hotel room where she had entered with Carman. Horrified officers found signs of a fight and blood on the floor.
In dramatic scenes, Carman was arrested just two hours later as he tried to board a plane at the Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok on Friday evening at 7 pm. He was allegedly covered in scratch marks on his arms and neck.
Tragically, Tunchanok's naked body was later found bent double in a 26-inch black suitcase alongside a railway line, around 10 minutes from the hotel where Carman had been staying.
Police Colonel Anek Sarathongyu, Superintendent of the Pattaya City Police Station, said: ‘The suspect has been remanded in custody and will appear at court shortly. We have advised prosecutors that he is charged with intentional homicide. Now it is up to the court to decide what happens.
'He has been visibly tense and distressed during the interviews. But we believe he intended to kill the deceased.
‘Initially, the Australian denied killing the girl. But there were clear signs he had been involved in a physical fight with a young woman. There were fingernail scratches on his arms and neck.
‘When we showed him the CCTV evidence of him carrying her body, he confessed and asked for forgiveness from the deceased's family.'
Pattaya has become one of the most popular tourist destinations in Asia due to its round-the-clock sex industry, which attracts men from all parts of the world.
Like Tunchanok, thousands of young girls and women can be found every night along the city's notorious Beach Road, where they can be bought for as little as 1,000 Baht.
Officials have made efforts to clean up the city but are reluctant to quash the lucrative sex-tourism industry, which makes up a substantial chunk of the country's GDP.
