BangkokReuters —
The family of a 17-year-old Thai girl whose body was found inside a suitcase in Pattaya said they were shocked by her death as an Australian man was arrested and charged with her murder.
Thai police said they arrested an Australian man in his 40s at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport early Saturday in connection with a murder in Pattaya, about 150 kilometers (93 miles) east of Bangkok.
The suspect, identified as Simon Peter Carman, is charged with murder, concealing a body, removing or destroying a body, and taking a minor for sexual purposes.
Thai police said they had reviewed CCTV footage showing Carman entering the apartment with the girl and leaving hours later alone with a suitcase.
According to a post on the police’s official Facebook page, the man loaded his suitcase onto his motorcycle and ran to a grassy area near the railroad tracks. Police subsequently issued an arrest warrant and arrested Carman at the airport as he was boarding a flight back to Australia.
Carman gave a message to the victim’s family at the police station’s investigation room before being transferred to the Pattaya District Court.
“I’m sorry what happened to your daughter. It’s out of my control,” he said.
The victim’s father, Thongchai Donhomura, 46, said he was struggling to come to terms with the loss.
“It’s very sad. My daughter didn’t have a mother, so whenever she wanted something she always found a way on her own and I always helped her,” he said.
His stepmother, Oladi Busarakam, said she wanted the suspect to receive the harshest punishment.
“I told the police I want him executed. As a (stepmother), I don’t know what else to say…I just want him to face all the consequences,” she said.
Police have not said when Carman will make his first court appearance.
