💔 A HEARTBREAKING JOURNEY: The Family of the Thai Teenager Tearfully Recalls an Eight-Hour Drive That Ended in What No Parent Could Ever Accept
The family of a teenager allegedly murdered by an Australian man in Thailand have spoken of their grief after the 17-year-old’s body was discovered inside a suitcase.
Simon Peter Carman, 45, was detained by Thai immigration at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport on Saturday, where he was allegedly trying to leave on a flight to Perth, and charged with murder.
Thai immigration detained Simon Peter Carman, 45, at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport around 9.30pm local time (12.30am Saturday AEST), where he was allegedly trying to leave on a flight to Perth, local media reported. Supplied
Carman was taken into custody, where Pattaya City Police investigators spoke to him over the alleged murder of a 17-year-old girl.
He has been charged with four offences; murder, concealment of a body, moving or destroying a body, and taking a minor aged between 15 and 18 for sexual purposes.
Carman has denied all charges, police told the ABC, and said he was asleep when she disappeared from the room.
The teenager’s family held back tears as they recounted their desperate eight-hour drive from north-eastern Thailand to Pattaya to find their missing daughter.
She had travelled to Pattaya only 12 days earlier with a friend and kept touch with her family daily.
Her stepmother said she was a “good girl” who supported the family.
CCTV allegedly shows the 45-year-old walking hand in hand through his hotel lobby in Pattaya with a 17-year-old girl around 3.30am local time on Thursday.
Around 9.30pm that night, vision allegedly showed Carman leaving his hotel with a black suitcase, before strapping it to a scooter and riding to a railway line about 10 minutes away.
The girl’s body was found stuffed in a suitcase in grassy scrubland beside the track.
CCTV allegedly shows the 45-year-old walking hand in hand through his hotel lobby in Pattaya with a 17-year-old girl around 3.30am local time on Thursday. Supplied
Carman allegedly told investigators the teenager demanded money and tried to rob him before a struggle ensued.
“I had my wallet open to get my money out, next thing I know there’s a knife in my face,” Carman claimed in a video recorded by police.
Thai investigators claim Carman “used one hand to grab the knife for self-defence, while his other hand gripped the woman’s neck”.
The investigator also claimed Carman admitted to placing the woman’s body inside a bag.
Vision shows what police claim are scratch marks on Carman’s neck and arms.
Detectives say his hotel room also showed signs of a disturbance.
“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,” Carman said to the camera, in a message to the teen’s family.
“Please tell other girls … just to be careful.”
In Thailand, murder can carry the death penalty or life in prison.
The Department of Foreign Affairs has confirmed it was aware of the arrest and was providing assistance to the man.
Around 9.30pm that night, vision allegedly showed Carman leaving his hotel with a black suitcase, before strapping it to a scooter and riding to a railway line about 10 minutes away. Supplied
“The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is providing consular assistance to an Australian detained in Thailand,” a DFAT spokesperson said.
“Owing to our privacy obligations we are unable to provide further comment.”
9News understands Carman has connections to Ballarat in regional Victoria, but has lived south of Perth.
Vision captured from his arrest appears to show the 45-year-old holding on to a West Coast Eagles t-shirt.
SOURCE: https://www.nine.com.au/australia-news/australian-man-arrested-at-thai-airport-over-local-girl-s-alleged-murder-20260627-p60al6.html
