Traces of cyanide found in cups of Vietnamese and Americans found dead in Bangkok hotel, police say

Lt. Gen. Trairong Piwpan, chief of the Thai police’s forensic department, said there were traces of cyanide in the cups and thermoses police found in the room, but initial results of an autopsy were expected later on Wednesday.

Bangkok police chief Lt. Gen. Thiti Sangsawang identified the dead as two Vietnamese Americans and four Vietnamese citizens, 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 to be of a personal nature and did not concern the safety of tourists.

A married couple among the dead had invested money with two of the others, suggesting money could be a motive, Noppasin said, citing information from relatives of the victims. The investment was for the construction of a hospital in Japan, and the group may have met to settle the matter.

Bangkok police chief Lt. Gen. Thiti Sangsawang said on Tuesday that four bodies were found in the living room and two in the bedroom. He said two of them had apparently tried to reach for the door but collapsed before reaching.

Noppasin said Wednesday that a seventh person, whose name was part of the hotel booking, was a sibling of one of the six and left Thailand on July 10. Police believe the seventh person had nothing to do with the deaths.

The Vietnamese and US embassies have been contacted about the deaths and the American FBI is on the way, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said.

He said the case was unlikely to affect a conference with Russian Energy Minister Sergei Tsivilev to be held at the hotel later on Wednesday. “This was not an act of terrorism, nor was it a security breach. Everything is fine,” he said.

Trairong said a mass suicide was unlikely because some of the victims had arranged for later parts of their journey, such as guides and drivers. He added that the bodies found in different parts of the hotel room suggested they had not knowingly taken poison and waited together to die.

US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller in Washington expressed his condolences to the families of the victims. He said the US was closely monitoring the situation and would communicate with local authorities.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with his Thai counterpart on Tuesday, but Miller said he believed the phone call took place before the deaths were reported and he did not know whether the topic came up during the conversation.

In 2023, Thailand was rocked by reports of a serial killer who poisoned 15 people with cyanide over several years. Sararat Rangsiwuthaporn, or “Am Cyanide” as she was later known, killed at least 14 people to whom she owed money, becoming the country’s first female serial killer. One person survived.