Horror as 17-year-old girl’s body found in suitcase
Horror as 17-year-old girl’s body found in suitcase
The suspect claims he acted in self-defence.
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Add us as preferred source Comments By Holly Kintuka, Audience Writer 11:52, Mon, Jun 29, 2026 Updated: 11:56, Mon, Jun 29, 2026 
An Australian man has been charged with the horrific murder of a 17-year-old girl after her dead body was found stuffed in a suitcase in Thailand. Police in Pattaya said they found Tuchanok Donholma in a bag that was left near a railway track in the early hours of Saturday, June 27.
Simon Peter Carman, 46, was arrested by Thai Police at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport in connection with the crime as he was allegedly “preparing to flee the country”. However, he denies the charges and claims the incident was beyond his control.
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According to Pattaya City Police, Donholma was reported missing at 5pm local time on Friday. A statement issued on social media stated that police reviewed CCTV footage that allegedly showed Carman entering a condominium with the 17-year-old at 3.34am the previous night.
Carman then appeared alone, “carrying a large suitcase”, with the statement noting that the had loaded the case onto a motorbike before travelling towards a railway line, BBC reports.
Police officers questioned and arrested Carman at the airport in Bangkok at 1.15am on Saturday, and the teenager’s naked body was found in the suitcase around 15 minutes later.
The suspect denied murder and further charges related to moving or concealing a body and taking a minor for sexual purposes. He claimed that he acted in self-defence.
Donhomla's family told local media that she was an only child who lived with her father and step-mother in the province of Kalasin, about 480km northeast of Pattaya. The 17-year-old, nicknamed Cake, had told her parents she wanted to go on holiday with a friend, and had travelled to Pattaya on June 16
Carman told officers that he agreed to pay Ms Donholma 1,000 baht (£23) in exchange for sexual services, but they had a disagreement when they reached his apartment, and he only offered her half the agreed amount.
It was also reported that Carman claimed the teenager had “disappeared from the room” while he was asleep.
The suspect issued a message to Donholma’s family via video, in which he requested that they warn other girls.
In a video recorded whilst he was in custody, he asked the 17-year-old’s family to warn other girls.
He said: "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."
Colonel Anek Srathongyoo, Superintendent of the Pattaya City Police Station, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) that Carman "has fingernail scratches across his body that are consistent with a struggle, but he denies killing her". When questioned about the scratch marks, Carman said they were possibly down to “a spider”.
Thongchai Donhomla, said he was "deeply saddened" by his daughter's death.
"My daughter had no mother, so whenever she wanted anything, she would find a way herself, and she always helped me too," he told a local reporter.
Her step-mother, Oradee Bussarakum, said: "We were scared. We just hoped it wouldn't turn out the way we feared. Now our eyes are swollen from crying."
"I just want him executed ... I even asked the police if I could hit him, if I could beat him," she added.
If convicted of murder, Carman could face the death penalty.
Badenoch blasts 'moaning' female Labour MPs over Burnham jobs 'quota'
Kemi Badenoch has told Labour women to earn a job in Andy Burnham's Cabinet instead of demanding they are handed jobs because of their gender.
The Tory leader lashed out today amid reports that female MPs are demanding the de-facto new prime minister introduce a 50:50 gender split 'quota' in his government.
Amid reports that former foreign secretary David Miliband is being lined up to return to the role, possibly with his brother Ed as Chancellor, one female minister also complained that Burnham could not have 'more Milibands than women' in the top posts.
But in a scathing article in the Times today Mrs Badenoch told them to 'stop moaning' and get chosen on merit instead of retreating into 'more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country'.
'There are many, many reasons why you shouldn't have any Milibands in the cabinet,' she said.
'But complaining that the boys haven't given them the right jobs or that the boys are taking all the jobs, just shows that Labour's women still don't get it.'
The idea of quotas was also attacked by Baroness Jacqui Smith, Labour's Skills Minister.
Asked by Times Radio if Mr Burnham should reserve jobs for women, she said: 'No, I think what Andy Burnham should be doing is building the very best team around him to change this country.'
A letter written by the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party has called on Mr Burnham to ensure a 50:50 split between men and women in government jobs
Amid reports that former foreign secretary David Miliband (above, right, in 2010) is being lined up to return to the role, possibly with his brother Ed as Chancellor, one female minister complained that Burnham could not have 'more Milibands than women' in the top posts
But Mrs Badenoch told them to pipe down and get chosen on merit instead of retreating into 'more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country'
A letter written by the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party and seen by the BBC has called on Mr Burnham to ensure a 50:50 split between men and women in government jobs after he succeeds Sir Keir Starmer.
'We are asking you to demonstrate this change from day one and address the toxicity and misogyny within our own party and government,' it said.
Labour has never had a female leader, while the Conservatives have had three, and Mrs Badenoch urged the government to follow its meritocratic example.
'If you run a meritocracy, then you do not have to worry about jobs for the boys,' she wrote.
'Every woman who is a Conservative MP, every woman who has ever won the leadership, has had to fight to get where she is.
'By contrast, Labour women are demanding guarantees from Burnham. But the truth is he doesn't have to give any guarantees.
'If none of Labour's women are prepared to get their hands dirty and challenge him for the leadership, their demands are toothless.'
'In fact, it's quite revealing that the women's parliamentary Labour Party has written to Burnham asking him to commit himself to at least 50 per cent female ministers.
'This has nothing to do with meritocracy. It is yet more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country.'
