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Preliminary autopsy results showed traces of cyanide in the blood of six Vietnamese and American guests at a luxury hotel in central Bangkok, one of whom allegedly poisoned the others over a bad investment, Thai authorities said Wednesday.
The bodies were found Tuesday at the Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok, a striking building at a central intersection in the capital city lined with shopping malls, government buildings and public transport.
The six were last seen alive when food was brought to the room Monday afternoon. Staff saw a woman receive the food, and security footage showed the rest arriving one by one shortly after. There were no other visitors, no one was seen leaving, and the door was locked. A maid found them Tuesday afternoon when they failed to check out.
Lt. Gen. Trairong Piwpan, head of the Thai police’s forensic department, said there were traces of cyanide in the cups and thermoses found by police in the room. This was later confirmed by initial autopsy results of the six bodies, which were carried out at Chulalongkorn Hospital in Bangkok.
Kornkiat Vongpaisarnsin, head of the forensic medicine department at Chulalongkorn University Medical School, told a news conference that cyanide was found in the blood of all six bodies and that a CAT scan showed no signs of blunt force trauma, strengthening the hypothesis that the six bodies had been poisoned.
Chanchai Sittipunt, dean of Chulalongkorn’s medical faculty, said the team “believes cyanide is the answer.”
“We don’t know whether they were on sleeping pills or other substances, but we can tell enough from the cyanide to make that determination,” he said, referring to the cause of death.
Bangkok police chief Lt. Gen. Thiti Sangsawang identified the dead as two Vietnamese Americans and four Vietnamese, and said they were three men and three women. Their ages ranged from 37 to 56, according to Noppasin Punsawat, Bangkok’s deputy police chief. He said the case appeared personal and would not affect the safety of tourists.
Mass suicide unlikely, police say
A man and woman among the dead had invested about 10 million baht ($381,000 Cdn) with two of the others, and that could be a motive, Noppasin said, citing information obtained from relatives. The investment was intended to build a hospital in Japan, and the group may have met to settle the matter. Police say one killed the rest, but did not say which of the six is the suspect.
Bangkok’s police chief said Tuesday that four bodies were in the living room and two in the bedroom. He said two of them appeared to be trying to reach the door but collapsed before they could.
Noppasin said Wednesday that a seventh person whose name was included in the hotel booking was a sibling of one of the six and left Thailand on July 10. Police say they believe the seventh person was not involved in the deaths.
The Vietnamese and U.S. embassies had been contacted about the deaths and the U.S. FBI was on its way, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said. He said the case was unlikely to affect a conference with Russian Energy Minister Sergei Tsivilev at the hotel later on Wednesday.
“This was not an act of terrorism or a breach of security. Everything is fine,” he said.
Trairong said a mass suicide was unlikely because some of them had arranged future parts of their trip, such as guides and drivers. He added that the bodies in different parts of the hotel room suggested they had not consciously ingested poison and had waited together to die.
U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller in Washington offered his condolences to the families of the dead. He said the U.S. was closely monitoring the situation and would communicate with local authorities.
In 2023, Thailand was rocked by reports of a serial killer who poisoned 15 people with cyanide over a period of years. Sararat Rangsiwuthaporn, or “Am Cyanide” as she would later be known, murdered at least 14 people to whom she owed money, becoming the country’s first female serial killer. One person survived.
