A girl has been charged with murder after she was found dead in a suitcase in Thailand

An Australian man has been charged with murder after the body of a 17-year-old girl was found in a suitcase in Thailand, local and Australian media reported.

Police in the coastal city of Pattaya said they found the teenager “crammed” into a bag dumped near railway tracks in the early hours of Saturday.

Thai police said they arrested Simon Peter Karman at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport in connection with the death, saying he was “preparing to flee the country.”

He has denied the charges, reports said. In a message to the victim’s family after his arrest, Karman said: “I am so sorry for what happened to your daughter. It was out of my control.”

Pattaya city police said the 17-year-old, named by local media as Tunchanok Donhomla, was reported missing at 17:00 (12:00 GMT) on Friday.

In a statement on social media, the force said it had seen CCTV footage of Karman entering the condominium and later leaving alone “with a large suitcase”.

He said he loaded the bag on the motorcycle before going to the railway line.

At the airport in the Thai capital, 150 km (93 miles) north of Pattaya, authorities questioned and arrested Karman at 01:15 on Saturday.

The teenager’s naked body was found in a suitcase 15 minutes later, the force said.