Travelers at the airport in Bangkok. (archive image)Image: keystone
June 27, 2026, 1:52 p.mJune 27, 2026, 1:52 p.m
Gruesome find: The body of a missing teenager was discovered in a suitcase in Thailand after a police search. The Australian, with whom the Thai woman was last seen in the tourist hotspot Pattaya, is accused of murdering the 17-year-old, as local and Australian media reported, citing the police. The mid-40-year-old was arrested on Friday (local time) at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok and taken back to Pattaya for questioning.
Two hours earlier, friends reported the 17-year-old missing in Pattaya, according to Australian broadcaster ABC News. According to the reports, video surveillance footage last showed her entering his hotel early on Thursday morning, accompanied by the Australian, holding hands.
Into the hotel as a couple – out again alone with suitcases
Later footage showed the man alone leaving the hotel – dragging a large, apparently very heavy suitcase behind him. As surveillance cameras from the streets of the town show, the man loaded the suitcase onto a moped and drove it along a railway line. There, around a ten-minute drive from the hotel, the emergency services found the young woman’s body late in the evening. The corpse was naked and her face was marked by considerable violence.
The police assume that the man murdered the young person; scratch marks on his body indicated that she resisted. The man denies this. The authorities also accuse him of taking the minor “for the purpose of committing indecent acts.” According to ABC, murder in Thailand carries the death penalty or life imprisonment. The seaside resort in Thailand is known as a hotbed of prostitution. (sda/dpa)