A 45-year-old Australian man, Simon Peter Carman, appeared in court in Pattaya (a seaside resort city about 150km south-east of Bangkok) on Friday and pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, concealing a body, and taking a minor for indecent purposes. He was arrested in June after 17-year-old Tunchanok Donhomla went missing; her body was later discovered in a large black suitcase, with police determining she had died of suffocation. Carman has claimed self-defence, alleging the girl threatened him with a knife, and the case has renewed scrutiny of Pattaya's reputation as a destination for sex tourism. The next court hearing is scheduled for 12 October.