The body of 17-year-old Tunchanok Donhomla was found inside a suitcase abandoned near a railway line in the Thai coastal city of Pattaya, and an Australian national has been charged with her murder, according to Thai police. Simon Peter Carman, 45, was detained at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport on Friday evening as he was about to board a flight to Perth. He faces charges of premeditated murder, concealing a body, and taking a minor for sexual purposes, all of which he denies.

Security camera footage, cited by investigators, shows the pair entering Carman’s condominium in the Jomtien area hand-in-hand in the early hours of Thursday. He is then seen leaving alone that evening, wheeling a large black suitcase, which he strapped to a rented motorcycle and drove towards a railway line. He returned without the luggage. After a friend reported the teenager missing on Friday, police traced her last known movements to the building and later located the suitcase in long grass beside the tracks. The body, which bore signs of violence, was discovered shortly after Carman’s arrest.

Carman has told police he acted in self-defence, claiming the teenager attacked him with a knife during a dispute over payment for sexual services. Thai media, citing police sources, reported that the pair had agreed on 1,000 baht (about US$30) but that Carman offered only half that amount, leading to an argument. He allegedly said he strangled her unintentionally. Visible scratches on his neck and arms were initially attributed by him to spiders or a fight with a friend, according to officers. These accounts have not been tested in court, and an autopsy is under way to determine the exact cause of death.

Australian media have reported that Carman, a former truck driver, had his firearms licence suspended before moving to Thailand eight months ago and had lived alone in a rented condominium. The victim’s family, from Kalasin province in north-east Thailand, have called for the maximum penalty. Carman remains in custody in Pattaya while the investigation continues and the case is prepared for prosecutors.