{"id":768621,"date":"2026-06-29T22:22:22","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T22:22:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/768621\/"},"modified":"2026-06-29T22:22:22","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T22:22:22","slug":"australian-man-simon-peter-carman-pursued-women-on-threads-before-arrest-over-17-year-old-thai-girls-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/768621\/","title":{"rendered":"Australian man Simon Peter Carman pursued women on Threads before arrest over 17-year-old Thai girl\u2019s death"},"content":{"rendered":"

Weeks before Australian man Simon Peter Carman allegedly murdered a Thai teenager who police say he had engaged for sex, he publicly told another woman posting provocative content online that she was \u201ctoo fat\u201d for him.<\/p>\n

The remark was posted from Mr Carman\u2019s public Threads account where the Perth man appears to have spent months using a copy-and-paste style of communication to contact women around the world before his dramatic arrest at Bangkok\u2019s Suvarnabhumi Airport on Friday.<\/p>\n

The 45-year-old was arrested just minutes before boarding a Jetstar flight to Perth.<\/p>\n

Sign up to The Nightly’s newsletters.<\/p>\n

Get the first look at the digital newspaper, curated daily stories and breaking headlines delivered to your inbox.<\/p>\n

By continuing you agree to our Terms<\/a> and Privacy Policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Thai police allege Mr Carman killed 17-year-old Tunchanok Donhomla before placing her body inside a suitcase and abandoning it near railway tracks about 10 minutes from the hotel where he was staying.<\/p>\n

Mr Carman has since been charged with 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.<\/p>\n

He denies murdering the teenager and has told police he acted in self-defence after allegedly being attacked during a dispute over payment.<\/p>\n

The Nightly discovered Mr Carman\u2019s unusual online activity in the months leading up to the alleged killing.<\/p>\n

Across dozens of public replies dating back to January 2025, Mr Carman repeatedly commented beneath posts from women sharing intimate selfies and videos, frequently opening conversations with near-identical messages such as \u201cHello Gorgeous, how are you doing?\u201d and \u201cWhere are you located?\u201d before introducing himself, revealing his location and trying to move the conversations off-platform.<\/p>\n

On June 4 this year when one woman posted a selfie asking: \u201cAm i your type of girl?\u201d Mr Carman bluntly replied: \u201cToo fat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Three months earlier, on March 28, another woman asked: \u201ci think i like you \ud83d\ude29 do you like asians?\u201d, to which Mr Carman said \u201cyes\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"TunchanokTunchanok Donhomla, 17, was last seen entering a hotel in the early hours of Thursday morning in Pattaya. Credit: Unknown\/X<\/p>\n

On the same day, replying to another post whose original content is no longer available, he wrote: \u201cI\u2019m here, 45 !!.\u201d<\/p>\n

In numerous other public interactions, he told women he lived in Rockingham, about 50km south of Perth. In October he said that he had relocated to Thailand.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Thai investigators allege Mr Carman met Ms Donhomla in the early hours of Thursday in Pattaya, a city known for its nightlife and tourism.<\/p>\n

CCTV captured the pair walking hand-in-hand through the foyer of Mr Carman\u2019s apartment building and into a lift at 3.34am.<\/p>\n

Thai media reported Ms Donhomla had been hired to provide sexual services before an argument allegedly broke out over payment.<\/p>\n

Investigators allege they had agreed on 1000 baht (about $43) but Mr Carman later offered only half that amount.<\/p>\n

\"MrMr Carman told police he had acted in self-defence. Credit: Unknown\/X<\/p>\n

Around 18 hours later, CCTV allegedly captured Mr Carman leaving the building wheeling a large black suitcase before strapping it to a motorcycle and riding away.<\/p>\n

The investigation began after one of Ms Donhomla\u2019s friends reported her missing.<\/p>\n

Police later traced her final known movements to Mr Carman\u2019s accommodation before locating her body inside a suitcase in long grass beside nearby railway tracks.<\/p>\n

Thai immigration authorities issued what local media described as a watch notice and Mr Carman was intercepted at Bangkok airport while allegedly attempting to leave the country.<\/p>\n

Police have released video of Mr Carman in custody in which he expresses remorse to Ms Donhomla\u2019s family but maintains the girl\u2019s death was not his fault.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel bad for what happened to your daughter,\u201d he says in the recording.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was out of my control.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TunchanokTunchanok Donhomla\u2019s naked body was found stuffed in a suitcase dumped near a train line. Credit: Unknown\/X<\/p>\n

He also urged the family to \u201ctell other girls . . . to be careful\u201d.<\/p>\n

During police questioning, Mr Carman allegedly claimed Ms Donhomla threatened him with a knife and attempted to rob him before he acted in self-defence.<\/p>\n

Asked about visible scratches on his neck and arms, Mr Carman told investigators they were caused by \u201cspiders\u201d.<\/p>\n

The teenager\u2019s devastated family publicly rejected his apology and called for him to receive the maximum punishment if convicted.<\/p>\n

Her father, Thongchai Donhomla, described his daughter as a hardworking young woman who regularly helped support the family, while her stepmother said she wanted Mr Carman to be executed.<\/p>\n

Family members said Ms Donhomla had travelled to Pattaya for the first time only days earlier with a friend.<\/p>\n

Mr Carman is understood to have been born in Ballarat before growing up in Jerramungup, about 440km south-east of Perth. He later lived in Albany before settling in Rockingham.<\/p>\n

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 he sustained as a truck driver.<\/p>\n

People who knew Mr Carman told The Australian he suffered significant back injuries, had a metal rod in his spine and relied on strong pain medication.<\/p>\n

He largely kept to himself, they said.<\/p>\n

\"ThongchaiThongchai Donholma, the father of Tunchanok Donhomla, speaks about his grief. Credit: 7NEWS\/7NEWS<\/p>\n

The Nightly has confirmed he also previously lived in Perth\u2019s southern suburb of Casuarina. Neighbours there said they were shocked to learn of the allegations.<\/p>\n

A woman who answered the door at a property listed in Mr Carman\u2019s name confirmed he no longer lived there, although his mail still arrived at the address.<\/p>\n

According to The Australian, Mr Carman relocated to Thailand about eight months ago, reportedly seeking a cheaper lifestyle and medical treatment after local surgeons refused to operate on his back.<\/p>\n

In Thailand, he reportedly rented a modest apartment for about A$100 a week, spent time swimming and walking, and brewed ginger beer.<\/p>\n

Former acquaintances quoted by the Daily Mail described Mr Carman as socially awkward and said he had spent years travelling between WA and Thailand before relocating there.<\/p>\n

Mr Carman remains in custody in Pattaya while Thai authorities continue investigations.<\/p>\n

If convicted of murder in Thailand, he could face life imprisonment or the death penalty.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Weeks before Australian man Simon Peter Carman allegedly murdered a Thai teenager who police say he had engaged…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":768622,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[77,63,43,44,41,39,42,40,3439,1720],"class_list":["post-768621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-asia-pacific","tag-australia","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-western-australia","tag-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/768621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=768621"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/768621\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/768622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=768621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=768621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=768621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}