Australian man is arrested allegedly trying to flee Thailand after the body of a 17-year-old girl was found stuffed in a suitcase near train tracks

By CAITLIN POWELL - NEWS REPORTER Published: 04:29, 27 June 2026 | Updated: 04:42, 27 June 2026 An Australian man has been arrested over the alleged murder of a teenage girl in Thailand after her naked body was found stuffed in a suitcase.  The 17-year-old girl was last seen entering a hotel in Pattaya, a coastal city on Thailand's Gulf coast, just after 3.30am on Thursday, local media reports.  CCTV footage seen by Thai publication, Buzzin Pattaya, shows the teenager, from Thailand's Kalasin province, holding hands with a man believed to be a 46-year-old from Victoria.  Police allege the Ballarat man picked up the teenager from the town's Beach Road vice strip in the early hours of Thursday.  Her friends said they did not hear from her again and reported her missing on Friday at 5pm local time. Police told Viral Press there had been blood on the floor in the hotel room when they searched it.   The Australian tourist was arrested while attempting to board a plane at the Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok on Friday night. His arms and neck were allegedly covered in scratch marks, Viral Press reports. A 46-year-old Victorian man has been arrested over the alleged murder of a teenage girl in Thailand It is alleged the man, from Ballarat, picked up the teenager from the town's Beach Road vice strip in the early hours of Thursday morning. Her friends said they did not hear from her again The man has denied the allegation of murder In a shocking discovery, the teenager's naked body was found in a 26-inch black suitcase beside a railway line about 10 minutes from the hotel at 11pm on Friday. 'The suspect has initially been charged with taking a minor for the purpose of committing an indecent act,' Superintendent of the Pattaya City Police Station Police Colonel Anek Sarathongyu told Viral Press. 'We believe he (allegedly) killed her, and he is being questioned on suspicion of murder. 'He has fingernail scratches across his body that are consistent with a struggle, but he denies killing her.  'He said that she disappeared from the room while [he] was asleep and unaware of anything.' Police also say CCTV appears to show the man leaving the hotel at 9.34pm on Thursday with a black suitcase similar to the one the girl was found in. Separate surveillance footage allegedly shows him on a motorcycle with the suitcase strapped to the back. In video filmed during the man's arrest by local media, a reporter is heard asking the Australian how the teenager died, to which the tourist replies: 'I don't know how, no.'  CCTV shows the girl holding hands with a man and entering a hotel before she disappeared A man believed to be the Australian is seen wheeling a suitcase In a shocking discovery, the teenager's naked body was found in a 26-inch black suitcase beside a railway line about 10 minutes from the hotel at 11pm on Friday Emergency services are seen at the scene of where the girl's body was found near train tracks He was also asked about the scratches. 'I have the same on the other side, I think it's a spider, they always get in here,' he said. If convicted, the maximum penalty for murder is death, although such sentences are rare.  Daily Mail has contacted the AFP for comment.  Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.