6 found dead in Bangkok hotel room due to suspected poisoning
Jul 16, 2024
Bangkok [Thailand], July 16 : Six people were found dead in a hotel room in downtown Bangkok, Thailand, on Tuesday, with police officials suspecting that the people had been poisoned, according to The New York Times.
Thailand Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said that two of the dead were Americans of Vietnamese descent and four were Vietnamese nationals.
Police Major General Theeradej Thumsuthee, chief investigator of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, who was being interviewed on Nation TV, a Thai news channel, said three of the dead were men and three were women, The New York Times reported.
"From the preliminary examination of the scene, it was assumed that they had been poisoned," General Theeradej said.
Theeradej added that there were traces that all six people drank coffee or tea.
However, a preliminary autopsy did not find any injuries, he said, reported The New York Times.
Moreover, a guide was being questioned, he said.
Police Lt Gen Thiti Saengsawang, the Metropolitan Police commissioner, told reporters that there were no signs of a struggle.
According to The New York Times, the bodies of those six people were found in the same room, a suite. All six were supposed to check out on Tuesday and had their bags packed.
Mass violence is unusual in Bangkok, but the capital was shaken by a shooting last October when a 14-year-old gunman opened fire in a luxury shopping mall, eventually killing three people.
The Grand Hyatt Erawan Hotel is located at a busy intersection in Bangkok's city centre. It is on the opposite side of Erawan Shrine, the site of a deadly bombing in 2015 that killed 20 people.