Thai police have confirmed that Tunchanok Donhomla, a 17-year-old girl found dead in a suitcase near a Pattaya railway track, died from suffocation, according to autopsy results announced by Pattaya City police chief Anek Srathongyoo. A 45-year-old Australian man, Simon Peter Carman, has been charged with murder, concealing or moving the body, kidnapping a child aged 15-18, and taking away a child for an indecent act, after he was arrested shortly before the body was discovered on 27 June.

Police say DNA found on Tunchanok's body matched Carman's, likely from when he placed her in the suitcase, and that she also suffered a brain injury sustained after death. CCTV allegedly showed Carman entering a condominium with the teenager before leaving alone that evening carrying a large suitcase, which he loaded onto a motorbike near the railway line. Carman has denied the charges, claiming self-defence, and reportedly told police a dispute arose over payment for sexual services; police aim to submit the case to prosecutors by Friday, ahead of an 18 September indictment deadline, and he could face the death penalty if convicted of murder.