Thai Police Say It’s Likely That Cyanide Poisoning Killed the Six People Found Dead in a High-end Hotel, Two of Whom Were US Citizens
Police in Thailand said Wednesday that the six people who were found dead in a high-end hotel room in central Bangkok likely drank from tea and coffee cups that were laced with cyanide after a fight over bad investments. Two of the people who died were US citizens.
On Tuesday, staff at the five-star Grand Hyatt Erawan in the Thai capital went into the fifth-floor room where the bodies were found because the guests had not checked out for more than 24 hours.
Three men and three women were found dead at the scene, along with a table full of food that had been wrapped in plastic and used cups that had white powder on them. Police said the door was locked from the inside, but a back door was left open.
At first, the police said they were looking for a seventh person who was involved in renting the hotel. But on Wednesday, they threw out this line of inquiry because they think one of the dead poisoned the others with cyanide, a chemical that kills quickly.
Thai police say that two Vietnamese Americans and four Vietnamese residents, including a married couple aged 37 to 56, were killed.
At a news conference, Trairong Phiewphan, chief of the Police Forensic Office, said that cyanide was found in mugs and cups in the hotel room and at least one blood sample from a dead man.
Training said, “Cyanide was found in all six coffee cups and the liquid in the teapot.”
Reports from the Royal Thai Police showed cups on a coffee table next to two metal thermos flasks and a dining table full of plates of food, set up as if people were about to eat.
The cops are now trying to figure out if the victims were killed or if they chose to end their own lives. At their press conference on Wednesday, the cops seemed to be leaning toward the first option.
Press members were told by Deputy Metropolitan Police Commissioner Noppasin Poonsawat that they think one of the group members may have poisoned the other five.
Police said that person brought the food and tea to the room and “looked under stress” when staff came.
Noppasin said that he heard from hotel staff that one of the group members was in the room by themselves when the food came. Later, the other guests joined them.
He also said that the incident was probably related to a “personal matter” and not to organized crime because family members of the dead people who were killed said there was a disagreement over money.
A family member said that one of the dead was a financial agent and that all of them had money invested, but the business wasn’t doing well. “They set up a time to talk about it in Thailand,” Noppasin said.
Two of the bodies were found in the bedroom and one at the dining table. Police think that one of the people who died tried to get to the door but fell before they could.
Police said that the group had arrived in Thailand at different times and had booked different hotel rooms. On July 15, everyone moved into the same room and had room service brought to them around 2:00 p.m. Police say that after 2:17 p.m., no one left or came into the room.
The deaths happened at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, which is in a busy tourist area in the middle of Bangkok with high-end shopping stores and restaurants.
The Erawan shrine is right next to the hotel. It is a well-known site that Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs, and tourists all love. A bomb went off at the shrine in 2015, killing at least 20 people. It was a popular place for people to go to get lucky.
Reports said that two US citizens had died in Bangkok, and the US State Department said it was “aware of the reports.” Reuters said that Vietnam’s government said its embassy in the Thai capital was working closely with Thai officials.
No changes were made to the original sentence as it does not require editing. “We are keeping a close eye on the situation and are ready to help those families with consular matters,” US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said at a briefing on Tuesday.
A Thai lady named Sararat Rangsiwuthaporn was arrested last year on suspicion of killing her friend with cyanide. She was later charged with at least 13 counts of premeditated murder in a separate poisoning case that shocked the whole country.