Australian Man Charged With Murder of Thai Teen in Pattaya

Australian national Carman faces murder charges in Thailand following the death of 17-year-old Tunchanok Donhomla. The teenager's body was found stuffed inside a suitcase along a Pattaya railway track. Carman claims he acted in self-defense during a dispute over $53, but the evidence points toward a brutal reality of exploitation and violence against a minor.

What happened to Tunchanok Donhomla?

Tunchanok Donhomla was reported missing by a friend after she walked off with a man in the early hours of Thursday morning. CCTV footage captured her entering a residential building in the Gulf coast city around 3:30am, holding hands with the man believed to be Carman. By Friday night, her naked body was discovered abandoned in tall grass by the railway line, just ten minutes from where she was last seen. Footage from ASEAN Now shows forensic police retrieving the suitcase and taking swabs of the handle.

The suspect's claims and the evidence against him

Carman was arrested at a Bangkok airport while attempting to purchase a ticket to Australia. According to the Bangkok Post, police discovered signs of a struggle at his condominium, along with his passport. Carman told police he had not known the 17-year-old before they met, and he agreed to pay 1000 baht, roughly $53,