Thai father's fury at accused Pattaya killer's apology

The father of Thai teenager Tunchanok Donhomla has angrily rejected an apology offered in a video interview, by the Australian man accused of murdering her, saying he wants Simon Peter Carman to accept responsibility rather than claim self-defence.

Thongchai Donhomla said he hopes to face Carman at his first court appearance and will oppose any attempt to secure bail. His 17-year-old daughter, known as Cake, was found dead in a suitcase near Pattaya in June.

"I don't want to hear his apology," Mr Donhomla said. "If he is truly a man, then if he has done something, he should have the courage to accept responsibility for it."

Father says family lost its only child

Mr Donhomla said he had placed all his hopes in his only child, who had travelled from northern Thailand to Pattaya about nine days before her death to see the beach and visit friends.

"I want to oppose his release on bail," he said. "I had only one child. We placed all our hopes in our child and now they are gone."

"I don't ask for much. I just hope my child gets the justice she deserves."

Tunchanok had met Carman, 45, a truck driver from Perth's southern suburbs, in the early hours of June 25. A concerned friend reported her missing the following day before confronting Carman at his condominium.

Carman claims he acted in self-defence

Tunchanok's naked body was found inside a black suitcase near railway tracks on Pattaya's outskirts on June 27, two days after CCTV showed her with Carman in the foyer of his condominium complex.

Carman was arrested at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi International Airport minutes before he was due to board a Jetstar flight to Perth.

In an ABC Foreign Correspondent interview, Carman said Tunchanok had attacked him with a knife during an argument over money. He said he repeatedly asked her to put down the knife during a physical struggle before she "went limp".

"I feel deeply sad. I obviously wish that it did not happen, but it was unavoidable," Carman said from Pattaya Remand Prison. He said he was trying to restrain her from stabbing him, including while she was pinned down.

Carman said he did not know Tunchanok was a minor, claimed she followed him home, and said he did not know why. He has denied wrongdoing and said he hopes to be released, if not on bail.

Police evidence and Thai legal process

Colonel Anek Srathongyoo of Pattaya City Police said an autopsy found Tunchanok had been suffocated, with no other injuries. Police also matched Carman's DNA to DNA found on Cake, he said.

Carman faces charges of murder, concealing and moving a body, and taking a minor aged between 15 and 18 for sexual purposes. Prosecutors have until September 18 to indict him.

A murder conviction in Thailand can result in the death penalty or a prison term of 15 to 20 years.

Picture courtesy of Daily Mail

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26 August 2026