🚨 SH0CKING NEWS: Chil-ling Discoveries in a Thai Tourist Hotspot After Two More Suitcases With B0dies Were Found Following the Australian Truck Driver’s Mur-der Charge
As an Australian man faces the death penalty over the alleged murder of a teenage girl whose body was found stuffed inside a suitcase, Daily Mail can reveal it is not the first occasion police have made such a gruesome discovery in the Thai beach city.
Simon Carman, 46, from south of Perth, was arrested after the body of 17-year-old Tunchanok Donhomla – known as Cake – was found inside a 29-inch black suitcase near railway tracks just outside Pattaya last Friday night.
Police allege the British-born tradie stuffed the teenager’s naked body into the case before dumping it in long grass and attempting to flee the country on a flight to Perth.
He had earlier met the teen at the beachside in the wee hours of the morning and offered to pay her to return to his hotel, where he claimed she pulled a knife in a dispute about money. Local police on Monday said a preliminary examination suggested she died of strangulation.
Daily Mail can now reveal Ms Donhomla’s death marks the third time in less than two years that the body of a woman has been discovered concealed inside luggage in Pattaya, adding another chilling chapter to the city’s dark criminal history.
The two earlier murders remain unsolved and the similarities between the cases were so striking that Thai authorities are investigating whether they could be linked.
It is not suggested that Carman was in any responsible for the earlier two murders, only that Thai authorities are investigating whether they could be linked to the death of Ms Donhomia.
The most recent of the two cold cases unfolded in September 2025, when the bound body of a woman believed to be in her early 30s was discovered inside a suitcase floating in a Pattaya reservoir.
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Tunchanok Donhomla’s body was found stuffed inside a suitcase near railway tracks
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Ms Donhomla’s death marks the third case in less than two years that the body of a woman has been discovered concealed inside luggage in the Pattaya area
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Simon Carman was arrested after allegedly murdering the 17-year-old in Pattaya
The luggage, secured with heavy chains, padlocks and cable ties, was spotted by a member of Thailand’s national rowing team while training nearby.
Inside, police found the half-naked body of a woman curled into the suitcase, but her identity and nationality remain unknown.
Investigators believe she was a foreign national with fair skin who had undergone extensive cosmetic surgery, including breast implants bearing Chinese markings, along with procedures to her nose and chin.
No match was found in Thailand’s fingerprint database and detectives believe she died from asphyxiation.
The suitcase had been weighed down with dumbbell weights – an eerie detail that echoed another horrifying discovery just eight months earlier in neighbouring Rayong province.
In February 2025, a local fisherman alerted police after his line snagged a suitcase floating near a golf course in Ban Chang, just 14km from the tourist hot spot.
Officers opened the locked luggage to find the naked body of a woman in a state of decomposition.
Like the Pattaya case, the suitcase had been deliberately weighted with two 10kg dumbbells in an apparent attempt to stop it resurfacing. Neither victim has been identified and both murder investigations remain unsolved.
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In September 2025 the bound body of a woman believed to be in her early 30s was discovered inside a suitcase floating in a Pattaya reservoir
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In February 2025, a local fisherman alerted police after his line snagged a suitcase floating near a golf course in Ban Chang, just 14km from the tourist hot spot
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Footage showed the 17-year-old walking towards the hotel with the accused
Carman allegedly met Ms Donhomla on Pattaya’s beachfront, which late at night becomes a well-known area for sex workers, and is colloquially known as the Coconut Bar.
Pattaya has long been associated with high-profile crime despite its popularity with millions of international tourists.
The beachside city has earned a reputation for violent assaults, drug trafficking, organised crime and the unexplained deaths of foreign visitors, with a string of grisly murders and suicides over the years attracting international attention.
Footage showed the pair walking from the beach before entering the foyer of his hotel at about 3.30am on Thursday.
Police allege they had agreed on a payment of 1,000 baht (AU$43), but an argument broke out after Carman allegedly offered only 500 baht (AU$22).
Carman has denied he murdered Ms Donhomla, and claimed that he only acted in self-defence.
The girl’s parents, Thongchai Donhomla and Ordee Butrakhamare, both 46, travelled from their home in Thailand’s northeastern Kalasin province after learning of their daughter’s death.
Her grieving stepmother said she wanted Carman to be prosecuted to the full force of Thai law, including execution if he is convicted.
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CCTV shows the pair walking from the beach before entering the foyer of his hotel at about 3.30am on Thursday
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Her grieving mother rejected the apology and said she wanted Carman to face the full force of Thai law, including execution if he is convicted
Thailand retains the death penalty for the most serious offences, including premeditated murder, although executions are carried out relatively rarely.
A person convicted of murder can be sentenced to either death or life imprisonment depending on the circumstances of the case.
While Thai courts continue to impose death sentences, many are later commuted to life imprisonment through the appeals process or by royal pardon.
Thailand’s last execution was carried out by lethal injection in 2018 after a nine-year hiatus. No executions have been reported since, although capital punishment remains a lawful sentencing option.
SOURCE: https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-15937507/Thailand-Australia-Pattaya-body-suitcase-Carman.html
