An Australian man has been charged with the alleged murder of a 17-year-old Thai girl in Pattaya, Thailand. Simon Carman, 45, faces accusations of strangling Tunchanok Donhomla in his rented apartment before placing her body in a suitcase and abandoning it near nearby railway tracks last week.

The Royal Thai Police are investigating the case and considering possible links to two unsolved murders from the previous year, in which women’s bodies were also found in suitcases. These earlier victims were discovered roughly 30 minutes from Carman’s apartment. Authorities have not confirmed a connection but are examining Carman’s internet search history to determine if he had knowledge of the prior cases. Pattaya police chief Colonel Anek Srathongyoo stated that while they are exploring potential links, there is no assumption that Carman is responsible for the earlier killings.

Ms. Donhomla, who had only arrived in Pattaya about nine days before her death, went missing after meeting Carman on the beachfront late at night. She had given her friends Carman’s address before leaving with him around 3:30 a.m. When she failed to return, her friends visited Carman’s apartment and confronted him about her whereabouts. Photographs taken by Ms. Donhomla’s friends show the apartment in disarray, with piles of dirty clothes, empty alcohol bottles, and a can of WD-40 visible in the small rented space Carman occupied for approximately $100 a week. CCTV footage reportedly captured Carman wheeling a suitcase from the apartment hours before the confrontation.

Sources close to Carman describe him as generally respectful toward Thai sex workers, with occasional requests for room cleaning or massages for which he paid around 2,000 baht (approximately $86). Residents in his apartment block noted that Carman had a young woman visit his apartment around once a month, with Ms. Donhomla being the youngest among them. Carman denies the murder charges.

Family members of Ms. Donhomla have expressed their devastation over her death. Her stepmother, Oradee Bussarakum, described her as “still so young,” and her father, Thongchai Donhomla, said he was deeply saddened. Ms. Donhomla had no siblings, and her mother had passed away previously. The family held a Buddhist funeral service at a temple in Ban Bo, Kalasin, where her body was cremated on Tuesday, according to local reports.

Police are awaiting the results of DNA testing on material collected from under Ms. Donhomla’s fingernails as part of the ongoing investigation. Carman arrived in Thailand in December, and authorities continue to review all evidence to build their case.