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

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Carman should have been water boarded, see if he admits being a serial killer

9 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Carman should have been water boarded, see if he admits being a serial killer

Carman isn't smart enough to be a heretofore undetected serial killer.,

Edited August 25Aug 25 by JerryM

8 minutes ago, JerryM said:

Carman isn't smart enough to be a heretofore undetected serial killer.,

My friend who met him reckons the only reason he was found was because of the girls ladyboy friend who reported her missing, probably done it before

2 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

My friend who met him reckons the only reason he was found was because of the girls ladyboy friend who reported her missing, probably done it before

Neither Thai nor Australia authorities have linked him to any unsolved death or disappearance especially the 2 unsolved suitcase murders in Pattaya.

This topic is “Thai father's fury at accused Pattaya killer's apology”, there is nothing in the article, to suggest he was a serial killer, either from the authorities or any media source. So discuss the topic and not deflect into a discussion on the background and other serial killers, based on nothing but hearsay, social media claims or imagination.

49 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Carman should have been water boarded, see if he admits being a serial killer

28 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

My friend who met him reckons the only reason he was found was because of the girls ladyboy friend who reported her missing, probably done it before

Really? What are you basing this on? Evidence says that he´s just a stupid, mentally unstable guy who killed a girl. Where do you have any thing that states he probably done it before?

By the side of that, it looks like you, as me and most people, wants him to face justice for his crime. At the same time you are suggesting criminal activity to get answer on a sick belief without any fondation. That´s just sick!

1 hour ago, Georgealbert said:

Carman claims he acted in self-defence

Self-defense is covered in Section 68 of the Thai Criminal Code. It references that the response must be proportional i.e. you cannot use excessive force to stop a minor threat.

Edited August 25Aug 25 by JerryM

1 hour ago, JerryM said:

Self-defense is covered in Section 68 of the Thai Criminal Code. It references that the response must be proportional i.e. you cannot use excessive force to stop a minor threat.

IF a knife was used, you use what force is needed to stop that threat. A deadly weapon can mean using whatever force is necessary. You can try talking the person out of using that knife, which might work, talking sense into them, but if they come at you, you do whatever you can to stop them. it doesn't mean choking them until they die but disarming them from that knife.

These are the measures one can take........Legal Standards for Self-Defense

• Imminent Threat: The danger must be immediate and happening right now. You cannot use force for a threat that is past or purely speculative.

• Proportional Force: The law permits the amount of force needed to stop the threat. Because a knife can cause fatal harm, severe or lethal force to neutralize the attacker is usually considered proportional.

• No Provocation: You cannot have started, provoked, or escalated the fight.

• Duty to Retreat: In some regions, you must try to run away safely if an escape route is available, while "Stand Your Ground" or "Castle Doctrine" jurisdictions allow you to protect yourself without retreating in places you have a right to be or inside your home. Force must also stop the moment the attacker is no longer a threat..Practical Survival Realities

  • Escape First: Running away or creating distance is always the safest and most effective option.

  • High Risk of Injury: Knife attacks happen extremely fast. Physical blocks and disarms are difficult, and most people get cut or severely hurt during close-range knife struggles.

  • Improvised Shields: Putting objects like backpacks, chairs, or thick jackets between you and the blade can help block strikes and buy time to escape.

  • My ex came at me three times with a knife, as she did with a couple of others (her words and her family's), and I talked her out of it twice and her sister got in the middle the other time. Thais are quick to use knives so this is a legitimate threat here many are aware of.

• This is what the court will look at, to see if his self defense explanation holds water. the burden of that proof being on him, as he took it to the extreme.

• Coming at someone with a knife is not a minor threat, as knives are used daily to kill many people, and most anyone can kill a person with a knife very easily.

Edited August 26Aug 26 by fredwiggy

Carman was found with finger-nail type scratches on his upper arm. If a knife was available those scratches would have likely been cuts.

30 minutes ago, JerryM said:

Carman was found with finger-nail type scratches on his upper arm. If a knife was available those scratches would have likely been cuts.

Has there been any mention of a knife that she might have used being taken in as evidence? I expect he had one in the condo, but did she have one with her?

9 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

Has there been any mention of a knife that she might have used being taken in as evidence? I expect he had one in the condo, but did she have one with her?

Knife or no knife, the way Thai law on self-defense is written is not in his favor.

1 minute ago, JerryM said:

Knife or no knife, the way Thai law on self-defense is written is not in his favor.

Oh I feel he is as guilty as sin, and most of what he claims is gumph...even 'she followed him back to the condo' when video shows them holding hands!

Well where is the knife and what about fingerprints?

Other than charges relating to disposing of a body, murder charges in Thailand are based upon premeditation or no premeditation.

So was his intent aforethought to murder someone or to get laid.

Edited August 26Aug 26 by JerryM

3 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

Carman should have been water boarded, see if he admits being a serial killer

Waterboarding is torture. Torture does not obtain reliable evidence.

7 hours ago, fredwiggy said:

IF a knife was used, you use what force is needed to stop that threat. A deadly weapon can mean using whatever force is necessary. You can try talking the person out of using that knife, which might work, talking sense into them, but if they come at you, you do whatever you can to stop them. it doesn't mean choking them until they die but disarming them from that knife.

These are the measures one can take........Legal Standards for Self-Defense

• Imminent Threat: The danger must be immediate and happening right now. You cannot use force for a threat that is past or purely speculative.

• Proportional Force: The law permits the amount of force needed to stop the threat. Because a knife can cause fatal harm, severe or lethal force to neutralize the attacker is usually considered proportional.

• No Provocation: You cannot have started, provoked, or escalated the fight.

• Duty to Retreat: In some regions, you must try to run away safely if an escape route is available, while "Stand Your Ground" or "Castle Doctrine" jurisdictions allow you to protect yourself without retreating in places you have a right to be or inside your home. Force must also stop the moment the attacker is no longer a threat..Practical Survival Realities

  • Escape First: Running away or creating distance is always the safest and most effective option.

  • High Risk of Injury: Knife attacks happen extremely fast. Physical blocks and disarms are difficult, and most people get cut or severely hurt during close-range knife struggles.

  • Improvised Shields: Putting objects like backpacks, chairs, or thick jackets between you and the blade can help block strikes and buy time to escape.

  • My ex came at me three times with a knife, as she did with a couple of others (her words and her family's), and I talked her out of it twice and her sister got in the middle the other time. Thais are quick to use knives so this is a legitimate threat here many are aware of.

• This is what the court will look at, to see if his self defense explanation holds water. the burden of that proof being on him, as he took it to the extreme.

• Coming at someone with a knife is not a minor threat, as knives are used daily to kill many people, and most anyone can kill a person with a knife very easily.

Are you related to the murderer? Where is the evidence that this wee lass used a knife at all, especially as you state " IF a knife was used". Even if in your imagination that this young girl had a knife and its not likely to be a knife the size of the movie 'Crocodile Dundee', what damage could she do against the size of the of the defendant compared to this 17 year old slim girl and a kids height?

Edited August 26Aug 26 by cynic1

This guy deserves the hardest sentence. He claims they argued over a few hundred baht... which is nonsense. Why didn't you just give her a thousand baht just to get rid of her and walk away, regardless of the reason? What? You thought you could get away with it? Moron!

Although, he could easily be a serial killer as from this MO it appears like it wasn't his first time... too organised, planned, and indifferent.

Edited August 26Aug 26 by Sir Dude
Typos

6 hours ago, Patong2021 said:

Waterboarding is torture. Torture does not obtain reliable evidence.

A good lawyer should be able to get to the truth by making the defendant trip up on his own lies in court.

6 minutes ago, cynic1 said:

Are you related to the murderer? Where is the evidence that this wee lass used a knife at all, especially as you state " IF a knife was used". Even if in your imagination that this young girl had a knife and its not likely to be a knife the size of the movie 'Crocodile Dundee', what damage could she do against the size of the of the defendant compared to this 17 year old slim girl and a kids height?

https://encrypted-vtbn0.gstatic.com/video?q=tbn:ANd9GcRSi81paU9pVrqHX0tm1EVwGq99BN5wtcsvDw

There is nothing in @fredwiggy 's post to suggest he thinks the victim had a knife. He's merely laying out what the "Legal Standards for Self-Defense" are. This is logical enough, given that's what Carman is claiming as a justification for his actions.

His post actually points out that even if she did have a knife, choking her to death would probably not fall within the definition of self-defence.

23 minutes ago, cynic1 said:

Are you related to the murderer? Where is the evidence that this wee lass used a knife at all, especially as you state " IF a knife was used". Even if in your imagination that this young girl had a knife and its not likely to be a knife the size of the movie 'Crocodile Dundee', what damage could she do against the size of the of the defendant compared to this 17 year old slim girl and a kids height?

It's not my imagination. I point out possibilities that might have happened, especially seeing the man said she used a knife. No one but them knows what went on anyway, so like most everyone else, we can think what might have occurred. A teenaged girl can kill anyone if she has a knife and placed into in the right place. This has happened many times that I alone have seen in the news and stories about murderers. Of course it's an excuse many will use. They had a weapon and I was defending myself.

1 hour ago, Sir Dude said:

Although, he could easily be a serial killer as from this MO it appears like it wasn't his first time... too organised, planned, and indifferent.

It was terribly planned. Instead of heading to the airport right after dumping the body and taking the first flight out of Thailand to Australia or anywhere, he hung around until the next day and didn't do anything until the late Ms. Cake's friend showed up. And from some of the photos available, he sure looked like he was surprised to see her or anybody looking for Ms. Cake.

Soon after that time they had reviewed the video and were able to track him to the airport and stop from him from exiting the Kingdom.

Edited August 26Aug 26 by JerryM

8 hours ago, jacko45k said:

Has there been any mention of a knife that she might have used being taken in as evidence? I expect he had one in the condo, but did she have one with her?

Correct no knife found no proof she had one. Just a pathetic excuse used by the 🔔🔚 to try and defend what he did.

9 hours ago, JerryM said:

Carman was found with finger-nail type scratches on his upper arm. If a knife was available those scratches would have likely been cuts.

Ah but those were from spiders remember?

This man is a criminal and deserves to be held accountable for his actions before the law and punished accordingly.

But what I want to address is the father. I offer him my condolences, but one thing is the pain of losing a daughter, and another is presenting yourself as a model father or a concerned father when everyone knows — or at least those of us who live in the country know — what it means when a girl from Isan of that age goes to Pattaya. And it is certainly not to see the sea, as is also shown by the place through which these two people came into contact.

Does that in any way justify what happened to her or mean that she deserved to end up like this? Absolutely not. I do not want to be misunderstood: absolutely not. I am talking about the father, and I will leave it at that.cannot say what kind of father he is because I do not know him. But what I can say is that, as a Thai father who knows Thailand even better than I do, after my 26 years in the country, he should know what can happen in Pattaya when a young woman from Isan goes there—and that it is not necessarily to see the sea, but rather to engage in a different kind of work.

That kind of work carries many risks, some of which can end very badly. And that is something widely known among those of us who live in this country, Thai and non-Thai alike.

26 minutes ago, rafaelaug09 said:

And it is certainly not to see the sea

Armed with the equivalent of about $40 from her father and $80 from her great-aunts, Cake went with her friend on a bus to the neon lights of party-town Pattaya on June 16. She promised to bring back clothes for her six-month-old cousin Wayu.

https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/the-lingering-scent-of-tragedy-a-family-grieves-for-cake-the-teen-killed-in-alleged-pattaya-suitcase-murder-20260705-p60crh.html

NB So maybe the suggestion is her family gave her money to make the trip to Pattaya and to hold her over until she turns her first couple of tricks.

Edited August 26Aug 26 by JerryM

4 hours ago, save the frogs said:

A good lawyer should be able to get to the truth by making the defendant trip up on his own lies in court.

So should competent police investigators. Unfortunately.............................

15 hours ago, Georgealbert said:

"If he is truly a man, then if he has done something, he should have the courage to accept responsibility for it."

Honestly, I had no idea this was a cultural norm here.

15 minutes ago, Patong2021 said:

So should competent police investigators. Unfortunately.............................

If there was a struggle in the room and she came after him with a knife, wouldn't there be signs in the room? Scratches on furniture? A broken lamp?

Edited August 26Aug 26 by save the frogs

21 hours ago, jacko45k said:

Oh I feel he is as guilty as sin, and most of what he claims is gumph...even 'she followed him back to the condo' when video shows them holding hands!

Her hand is limp and not holding his. He is holding hers as if she is his property.