17-year-old Thai girl murdered and body hidden in suitcase; Australian man caught trying to flee at airport

The Pattaya City Police coordinated with Immigration at Suvarnabhumi Airport and successfully apprehended a 46-year-old Australian man. He is suspected of murdering a 17-year-old Thai girl, placing her body in a suitcase, and abandoning it in the woods beside the railway in Bang Lamung District, Chonburi Province.

The suspect denied the allegations after being brought in, claiming he was asleep at the time of the incident and unaware of the girl's whereabouts. However, surveillance footage has identified him as the key suspect.

The 17-year-old victim, Tanchano from Kalasin Province, had earlier disappeared mysteriously after entering an apartment in Bang Lamung District, Chonburi Province with a foreign man. Surveillance footage showed the two walking hand-in-hand into the apartment at 3:34 am on June 25, taking the elevator up to room 202 on the 15th floor, after which they were not seen again.

By 9:34 pm on June 25, the foreign man was seen dragging a black suitcase out of the apartment, placing it on the back seat of a red Yamaha Aerox motorcycle, and riding away from the building. He turned left onto Sukhumvit Road, entered Soi Chaiyo 2, then rode against traffic along the road by the railway, disappearing for about 9 minutes in a surveillance blind spot. When he reappeared heading back toward the apartment, the suitcase was no longer on the motorcycle. Police suspect this was when the body of Tanchano, who had been killed and hidden in the suitcase, was discarded by the railway.

Earlier, a friend of Tanchano reported her missing at the Pattaya City Police after being unable to contact her for over 24 hours and fearing something bad had happened. Police quickly started tracking and sent an investigation team to the apartment, confirming the man accompanying Tanchano was a 46-year-old Australian named Simon. Simon had already left the room, and police found evidence of a struggle inside. A manhunt was immediately launched.

At about 7 pm on June 26, Simon was found at Suvarnabhumi International Airport purchasing a flight ticket back to Australia. Initial checks showed scratch marks on his neck and arms, apparently from fingernails. The Pattaya City Police coordinated with Immigration to detain him. The suspect was uncooperative and denied involvement in Tanchano's disappearance.

Subsequently, Police Colonel Aina, the chief of Pattaya City Police, led an investigation team along with forensic specialists from the Chonburi Provincial Forensics Division 2 to trace the route where the foreigner had dumped the black suitcase. They eventually found the suitcase beside the railway (about 4.2 kilometers from the apartment). Preliminary investigation confirmed it was about a 26-inch black suitcase, inside which was the curled-up body of a blonde female, covered with a thin brown cloth. The body was completely naked, with signs of facial injuries from being beaten — the entire face was swollen and bruised, with blood at the mouth and nose. She had been dead for more than two days. Based on physical characteristics and tattoos, the deceased matched the description of Tanchano. The body is being sent to the Police General Hospital's Forensic Research Institute for further verification of the cause of death and identification.

Simon was brought from Suvarnabhumi Airport back to the Pattaya City Police for further interrogation. The Pattaya Provincial Court has issued an arrest warrant on charges of "abducting a minor under 18 from the custody of her parents, guardian, or caretakers for indecent purposes without legitimate reason." During transfer, the suspect looked tense and had scratch wounds on his neck and arms suggestive of a struggle (fingernail marks). In the preliminary stage, he denied the accusations, claiming "the deceased left the room on her own; I was asleep at the time and knew nothing," but police did not believe him and are questioning him in detail in accordance with the law.