Source : Perth Now news
“I loved her more than myself — I would have given her my life.”
Those are the heart-breaking words of the great-aunt of 17-year-old Tunchanok Donhomla after the tragic teen was cremated at a temple in Thailand’s north east this week.
Pattaya City Police continue to build their murder case against 45-year-old Perth man Simon Peter Carman.
It’s a case that’s made global headlines and has angry Thais demanding the death penalty.
Known as Nong Cake to loved ones, the petite teenager was stuffed inside a suitcase and placed on the side of railway tracks on the night of June 25.
Her accused killer claims he strangled her to death in self-defence following a dispute about payment for sexual services she gave him inside his Pattaya apartment.
He allegedly refused to pay her a little more than $20 before she was killed.
Body in a suitcase
Forensic analysis of a suitcase, autopsy results, CCTV evidence and statements by Mr Carman are being analysed by local police as they work towards submitting their case to the public prosecutor within an 84-day deadline.
If they fail to do so, Mr Carman will have to be released under Thai law.
They allege the pair met about 3am last on that Thursday when Mr Carman solicited the girl for sex at the Beach Road vice strip — a popular location for holidaymakers interested in Pattaya’s nightlife and sex tourism.
About 2am, Mr Carman was reportedly rejected by a sex worker he was drinking with at a bar.
Ms Donhomla was accompanied by others before the reportedly drunk Australian approached her about one hour later. A friend of them filmed the pair walking off into the distance.
By 3.34am, footage retrieved from inside the lobby of Mr Carman’s Jomtien apartment complex shows him holding hands with the 17-year-old before they enter a lift.
Pattaya City Police Colonel Anek Srathongyoo alleged the pair entered Mr Carman’s cluttered 15th floor apartment before she texted a friend telling them not to worry.
“I’ve arrived at (Simon’s) apartment. The room is so messy,” she said.
That was the last known contact the girl had with anyone outside of the apartment.
Detectives are investigating unproven claims that Mr Carman killed the girl in an act of self defence.
Mr Carman allegedly claimed that he strangled Ms Donhomla after she threatened him with a knife following a dispute over payment for sex.
He claimed the pair had an argument after he offered half of the agreed amount of 1000 Thai baht ($43).
“According to Simon’s interrogation, Simon said he had strangled her until she was motionless, then brought her body into the bathroom,’ Colonel Srathongyoo alleged in an interview with SBS Thai.
“He must have been clueless to find a solution, so he stuffed her in the suitcase and left it (next to the train line).”
Colonel Srathongyoo alleged that Mr Carman was seen going about his normal day on Thursday as the girl remained dead in his bathroom.
He was captured on security cameras remerging in the lobby hours after he was last seen with the 17-year-old.
He did laundry, ate breakfast and texted a sex worker that morning to say, ““I’m so tired. I’m going to go for a swim today”.
The most damning piece of evidence police found is CCTV from 9.25pm on Thursday, showing Mr Carman allegedly pulling a black suitcase out the back of the complex.
He was then filmed driving away on a motorcycle with the suitcase tied to the back.
Police allege Ms Donhomla’s body and her personal belongings were stuffed inside the case, which was found dumped on the side of railway tracks in waist-high grass more than 4km from the complex.
He was captured re-entering the complex about 35 minutes later.
The next day, on Friday, a concerned friend of Ms Donhomla lodged a missing person report before confronting Mr Carman inside his apartment. In chilling photos, obtained by the ABC, a bare mattress on a bed and scattered items of clothing were visible inside the room.
Empty rum bottles were also pictured above a fridge.
Later that night, the Australian was arrested as he tried to board a flight at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport bound for Perth.
He was initially charged with abducting a minor for sexual services before Ms Donhomla’s body was discovered inside the suitcase a short time later.
Local media reported that Mr Carman initially claimed the teen had “disappeared from the room” as he slept before changing his story after being confronted with evidence.
In a brief interview post-arrest, Mr Carman claimed scratches likened to defensive wounds on his body were from spider bites. He also denied killing the girl.
“I feel bad for what happened to your daughter. It was out of my control,” he said to the camera in a message directed to the girl’s parents.
He faces charges of murder, concealing a body, moving or destroying a body, and an offence relating to taking a minor aged between 15 and 18 for sexual purposes.
If convicted of murder in Thailand, he could face life imprisonment or the death penalty.
Who is Simon Peter Carman
The Perth man, currently held inside Pattaya Remand Prison, was in Thailand for eight months at the time of the alleged crime and according to reports, was known to visit bars with sex workers.
On the morning that he met Ms Donhomla, Mr Carman was reportedly rejected by a sex worker.
He has been described as mostly keeping to himself, a keen swimmer and at times, aggressive.
An internal document from Thai immigration shows Mr Carman had frequently visited Thailand in recent years, with a previous entry to the country recorded in early 2025 on a tourist visa.
Mr Carman is understood to have been born in Ballarat and grew up in Jerramungup, about 440km south-east of Perth. He later lived in Albany before settling in Casuarina and Rockingham.
Before leaving Australia, Mr Carman had spent much of the previous decade living in an industrial unit complex in Rockingham while surviving on a disability pension and compensation payments linked to injuries from two motor vehicle accidents — a motorcycle and truck crash.
A former Rockingham neighbour of Mr Carman, who didn’t wish to be named, said the accused told several people he was moving to Thailand for back surgery.
“The main reason he went to Thailand was to get surgery, because no one would do it,” the neighbour said.
“I’m not sure if it was a motorbike accident first where he broke his neck or it was the truck accident where he had pins inserted in his spine, and that’s what he believed was causing him the pain and the medical problems.
That neighbour described Mr Carman as intelligent and said they didn’t think he would be capable of such a crime.
Several others said they weren’t surprised.
“I know there’s a few people around here that aren’t surprised by what’s happened, unfortunately,” a local worker named Brendon said.
“I don’t know him personally, but he just didn’t have a very good reputation.”
Another local —who did not want to be associated with Mr Carman — said the accused killer was “heavily medicated”.
They said he “barely came out” of the unit and was known to have “slept all day”. Another nearby worker said Mr Carman was involved in a road rage incident near the unit when he lived there.
A Thai woman claimed Mr Carman verbally abused her following a vehicle accident in Pattaya, before the girl’s alleged murder.
He is understood to have had multiple interactions with WA Police before his arrest. His firearm licence was taken by WA Police for an undisclosed reason in May 2023. That decision was upheld by the State Administrative Tribunal in 2024.
He was also fined for driving without a valid licence in August 2025.
The 45-year-old is awaiting a court appearance. At the time of publication, it was unclear when that date would be. He reportedly denies all charges.
He is being offered consular assistance by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
The West Australian understands his parents, who live in Albany, have no immediate plans to travel to Thailand.
The sad farewell
Ms Donhomla was an only child who lived with her father and stepmother. She reportedly travelled alone from the north-eastern Thai province of Kalasin to spend time with two friends in Pattaya.
News of her death spread after Mr Carman’s arrest, with at least one local Thai media outlet livestreaming the confronting moment police opened the discarded suitcase containing her body.
Some of her loved ones found out through friends who saw images of her dead body.
Her body was released back to the family following an autopsy, which reportedly concluded she likely died by strangulation.
She was cremated at an open-air temple in the Kalasin province.
Her father, Thongchai Donhomla, initially travelled to Pattaya after learning of the police investigation.
“My daughter had no mother, so whenever she wanted anything she would always find a way herself, and she always helped me too,” he said when camped outside a police station.
Her stepmother, Oradee Bussarakum, hoped the girl’s killer would be executed.
“As a (step)mother, I don’t know what else to say . . . I just want him to face the full consequences,” she told Reuters.
