Thai teen found in suitcase died from suffocation, police reveal

A 17-year-old girl whose body was found in a suitcase in Thailand died from suffocation, according to authorities.

Police in the coastal city of Pattaya previously said they had found Tunchanok Donhomla's naked body in a bag near a railway track in the early hours of 27 June.

This was just 15 minutes after they had arrested 45-year-old Australian man Simon Peter Carman, who was allegedly "preparing to flee the country", they said.

On Wednesday, Pattaya City police chief Anek Srathongyoo told the BBC that Tunchanok's autopsy results "showed she died from suffocation".

"She also suffered some brain injury but that was not the cause of death," he added. "It could have happened after she died as the accused moved her body in a suitcase before dumping it."

Anek further revealed that the DNA found on Tunchanok's body matched Carman's, and suggested that it "likely came from when he put her body in the suitcase".

Police are pressing four charges against Carman: murder; concealing or moving the body; kidnapping a child over 15 but under 18; and taking away a child over 15 but under 18 for an indecent act.

"[Carman] did not completely deny all the charges initially," Anek said. "He admitted to taking her out. That said, even if he pleads not guilty in court later, I believe we have collected all the evidence thoroughly and closed every loophole in the case in order to prove it to the court that he has committed those crimes."