Thailand: Six foreigners killed by cyanide in hotel, including the perpetrator

By Panu Wongcha-um and Panarat Thepgumpanat

BANGKOK (Reuters) – Six foreigners have died from cyanide poisoning. Their bodies were found in a room in an upscale Bangkok hotel, Thai authorities said on Wednesday. The suspected murderer was among the dead.

According to police and a hospital, traces of the fast-acting, deadly chemical were found in autopsies of the bodies and on drinking glasses and a teapot in the room of the luxury Grand Hyatt Erawan hotel, where the bodies were discovered late Tuesday.

Interviews with relatives of the three men and women killed revealed that there had been a dispute over debts related to an investment. Police said they were currently investigating the origin of the cyanide.

The six were all Vietnamese, two of them were U.S. citizens. Police said the FBI was assisting in the investigation.

“We can assume that the six died of cyanide,” Kornkiat Vongpaisarnsin of Chulalongkorn Hospital told reporters, adding that the results of further tests would be available on Friday.

The US State Department said it was monitoring the situation and local authorities were responsible for the investigation.

The Vietnamese Foreign Ministry confirmed that four of the dead were Vietnamese citizens and the embassy in Thailand is working closely with the authorities.

“We hope that the families of the victims will soon overcome this great loss,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Pham Thu Hang.

Operated by the Erawan Group, the 350-room Grand Hyatt Erawan is located in a popular tourist district known for its luxury shopping and dining.

News of the deaths, which some Thai media initially reported as a shooting, could be a setback for Thailand as the country relies heavily on its vital tourism sector to revive an economy that has been struggling since the pandemic.

The government wanted to get to the bottom of the incidents quickly, fearing that the negative publicity could affect a sector that expects 35 million foreign visitors and tens of billions of dollars in spending this year.

Trirong Phiwpan, head of evidence collection for the Thai police, said investigations had shown that one of the dead had laced the drinks in the hotel room with cyanide.

“After staff brought teacups and two hot water bottles, milk and teapots, … one of the six introduced cyanide.”

(Reporting by Panarat Thepgumpanat, Chayut Setboonsarng and Panu Wongcha-um; additional reporting by Khanh Vu in Hanoi; Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by John Mair and Angus MacSwan)