Thai police have arrested an Australian for the murder of a teenager who was found in a suitcase Story

The suspect was stopped at Bangkok’s main airport as he tried to board his flight home.

Thai police have arrested an Australian man on suspicion of murdering a 17-year-old girl whose body was found inside a suitcase near Pattaya.

The man, identified as Simon Carman, 46, was arrested on Friday evening at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport as he prepared to board a flight to Bangkok. From Australia the city of Perth, according to police and local media.

Investigators say security cameras caught the girl entering the home with the man early Thursday morning.

A few hours later, different pictures showed him leaving the house with a large black suitcase, which he put on the back of a motorcycle and took off.

The girl’s body was later found in the bag, dumped near the tracks a short distance from where she was last seen.

Police say he was severely beaten, with severe facial injuries.

The alarm was raised when the teenager’s friends reported her missing on Friday afternoon.

Police tracked her to the room she entered with the suspect, then alerted immigration officials, who arrested her at the airport.

Carman refuses to kill him.

Colonel Anek Sarathongyu, who is in charge of the Pattaya City police, said police believed he was the culprit and were questioning him as a suspect in the killing, adding that he had claws “relevant to a struggle”.

When asked in a video taken while in custody about the marks on his neck, the suspect blamed the spider.

He is facing several charges, including murder, concealing a body and taking a minor for the purpose of indecency.

Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it was providing consular assistance but could not comment further.

The arrests come weeks after Thailand drastically reduced the visa-free period for foreigners, following a series of cases involving foreigners accused of drug offences, smuggling and illegal business activities.