Pattaya-
Pattaya provincial prosecutors have formally indicted Australian national Simon Peter Carman over the death of 17-year-old Thanchanok Donhomla, whose body was found inside a suitcase dumped beside railway tracks in the resort city in June. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges in his first official court appearance today and asked for bail claiming he isn’t a flight risk, but the prosecution objected.
The Pattaya Provincial Prosecutor’s Office filed the case at Pattaya Provincial Court on the 17th of September 2026 under Black Case No. ท 61/2569, and the court listed him to enter a statement the next day. He appeared today on the 18th of September and pleaded not guilty to every count.
The indictment accuses Carman of intentional murder; concealing, hiding, moving or destroying a corpse to conceal the death or its cause; taking a minor older than 15 but not yet 18 from parents, a guardian or carer for indecent purposes even if the minor consented; and taking a person older than 15 but not yet 18 for indecent purposes even with that person’s consent. A conviction for intentional murder can carry 15 to 20 years in prison, life imprisonment or the death penalty. Carman remains in detention at Pattaya Remand Prison and is presumed innocent unless convicted.
Police say Donhomla, from Kalasin province and known as Nong Cake, entered a condominium on Jomtien Second Road with Carman at about 3:34 a.m. on the 25th of June 2026. CCTV recorded the pair walking hand-in-hand into the building. She was not seen leaving. A friend reported her missing the next day.
Carman was stopped at Suvarnabhumi Airport in the early hours of the 27th of June as he prepared to fly to Perth. Around the same time, officers found a suitcase containing her naked body in grass beside railway tracks in the Khao Makok area of Nong Prue, about 4.2 kilometres from the condo. Pattaya City Police charged him that morning after questioning and sent him to court for remand. Investigators later said they completed their inquiry in August and forwarded the file for a charging decision. Some reports also said DNA collected from Carman matched material found on the victim’s body.
At the police investigation stage in June, Thai outlets reported that Carman first denied involvement, then admitted strangling Donhomla after being shown CCTV of him moving a suitcase. He said an argument broke out over money, that she produced a knife, and that he acted in self-defence with no intent to kill. He also said he kept the body in a suitcase in the bathroom for more than a day before dumping it and leaving for the airport. Police treated that account with scepticism because of the concealment of the body and the attempt to leave Thailand.
In court on the 18th of September he denied all four indictment counts. Reporting from the hearing said he told the court he had been walking near the beach, that Donhomla followed him, that they did not have sex, and that she grabbed a kitchen knife when he did not give her the money she wanted.
He asked for bail and said he was not a flight risk. Prosecutors objected. His lawyer, identified as Sorasit Pongin, said the defence denies every charge and that the case may take six to eight months. The next hearing is listed for the 12th of October, when the court is expected to begin examining the prosecution evidence.
For the original version of this article, please visit The Pattaya News.
