Photos of food in the room where the murder-suicide occurred showed that some plates had their plastic wrap removed. - Photo: VietnamPlus
BANGKOK (Vietnam News/ANN): Thai authorities have found cyanide not only in tea, but also in food in a hotel room in Bangkok, where six people, four Vietnamese and two Americans of Vietnamese, were found dead, reported local media.
Photos of food in the room where the murder-suicide occurred showed that some plates had their plastic wrap removed. However, there haven’t been any specific reports of any dishes containing cyanide.
Thai police still need more time to prove whom the cyanide belonged to, because of different evidence and a lot of people involved.
Earlier, autopsy results released on July 17 confirmed that the six people died of cyanide poisoning, a substance that causes acute asphyxia.
Four of the dead were Vietnamese, and two were Americans of Vietnamese descent. The victims comprised three women and three men aged from 37 to 56 years old and were were found dead by a hotel cleaner in a fifth-floor suite.
Preliminary forensic evidence also showed traces of Cyanide in two thermo flasks and cups found in the hotel room, officials said.
A possible motive was that a business deal went awry, with four of the dead having mutual dealings worth 10 million baht (US$278,303), Deputy Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Bureau Nopasin Poolsawat told reporters earlier on Wednesday as seen via Bloomberg.
A 56-year-old American woman, who had taken the money from two of the victims, is suspected to have poisoned the group, Nopasin said, adding more investigation is needed to confirm the suspicion.
"All the six bodies had signs of asphyxiation as seen from dark purple color on their lips and fingertips,” Kornkiat said. "The common cause of death is probably Cyanide poisoning, which causes asphyxiation in the nervous system and important organs such as the heart,” he said adding only a complete blood test will yield conclusive results.
Police are trying to unravel the mystery a day after the bodies were discovered with Thai authorities ordering steps to contain any fallout of the incident on the nation’s key tourism industry. Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin’s government had taken measures to shore up confidence of tourists after a shooting at a shopping mall in Bangkok last year left three people dead.
Earlier on Wednesday, FBI agents joined Thai police at the hotel, according to Srettha. The US embassy in Bangkok referred queries to the local authorities.
There was no signs of any struggle and no significant bruises or wounds on the dead bodies. Room service food had been left untouched since it was delivered on Monday afternoon, though there were six tea cups containing "residues” at the bottom.
CCTV footage doesn’t show anyone leaving the room, and the police ruled out the involvement of a seventh person who had been booked to stay at the hotel. Those dead were the victims of a personal, not a transnational crime, police said.
The dead included five who had formally checked into the hotel, and another person who was part of the group. They had booked five hotel rooms for a total of seven guests, and police initially suspected that the seventh person may have been the perpetrator. But the woman in question returned to Vietnam on July 10 and has been ruled out.
Tourist Hotspot
The hotel is located near the downtown Ratchaprasong intersection, an area popular with foreign tourists. But the deaths will not affect the country’s tourism industry, Srettha said, adding that an event at the hotel to be attended by the visiting Russian energy minister will proceed as scheduled.
Still, shares of Erawan Group Pcl, the operator of Grand Hyatt, fell 1.9% to close at their lowest since May 2023.
Tourism is one of Thailand’s key industries, accounting for about 20% of total jobs and making up roughly 12% of the nation’s $500 billion economy. Srettha’s administration has set a goal of attracting 80 million tourists by 2027.
Foreign arrivals to Thailand this year through July 14 rose about 35% from the same period in 2023, to 18.9 million, generating revenue of 891 billion baht ($25 billion), the Tourism and Sports Ministry said earlier Tuesday. China, Malaysia and India were the biggest sources of tourists so far in 2024.
