Thai police say cyanide poisoning killed six in luxury hotel, including two US citizens

Thai police stated on Wednesday that it is likely that the six individuals—two of whom were US citizens—who were discovered dead in a five-star hotel room in the heart of Bangkok drank tea and coffee cups tainted with cyanide.

When employees of the five-star Grand Hyatt Erawan in the Thai capital approached the fifth-floor suite on Tuesday after the guests had missed check-out by more than 24 hours, a graphic discovery was made.

Three men and three women were found dead at the location, along with used cups that had white powder residue on them and a table full of unfinished meals wrapped in plastic. Although a backdoor was left unlocked, the police reported that the door was locked from the inside.

Cyanide residue was previously discovered by forensic examiners on the teacups used by the victims, all of whom are Vietnamese nationals, two of whom holding dual US citizenship. Police haven't identified the deceased person they believe was responsible for the poisoning, but they believe it was motivated by crippling debt.

According to Professor Kornkiat Vongpaisarnsin of Chulalongkorn University's Department of Forensic Medicine, the victims' internal organs turned "blood red," which is another indicator of cyanide poisoning, and their lips and nails had turned dark purple, suggesting a lack of oxygen.

At first, the authorities declared that they were looking for a seventh individual who was included in the hotel reservation. However, on Wednesday, they rejected this line of investigation, stating that they think one of the dead used the lethal, quickly acting chemical cyanide to kill the others.

The dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Dr. Chanchai Sittipunt, stated that more research was necessary to determine the exact amount of cyanide present in the deceased's blood.

"But from what we have detected - from observation, from internal organ check, from finding cyanide in the blood during the screening test - there is no other cause that would be the factor that would cause their deaths, except for cyanide,” he told reporters.

By then, according to investigators, they had been dead for twelve to twenty-four hours.

Srettha Thavisin, the prime minister of Thailand, stressed that the deaths were the consequence of a "private matter" and that there was no indication that the public was in danger as she requested an immediate investigation into the case.

According to officials, two of the six victims had lent "tens of millions of Thai baht" to one of the deceased for financial motives. The value of ten million baht is over $280,000.

Vietnamese nationals Thi Nguyen Phuong, 46; her husband, Hong Pham Thanh, 49; Thi Nguyen Phuong Lan, 47; and Dinh Tran Phu, 37, are among the four victims. Dang Hung Van, 55, and Sherine Chong, 56, are citizens of the United States.

Plates of unfinished food, some still wrapped in cling wrap, are shown on a table in the room in photos that the police have released.

According to the police, the party had separate hotel rooms reserved when they arrived in Thailand on different dates. Around 2:00 p.m. local time on July 15, the group moved into the same room and ordered room service. Police report that after 2:17 p.m., no one left or entered the room.

The Vietnamese government claimed that its embassy in the Thai capital was closely working with Thai authorities, while the US State Department stated that it was "aware of reports of the deaths of two US citizens in Bangkok."

“We offer our sincere condolences to the families on their loss. We are closely monitoring the situation and stand ready to provide consular assistance to those families,” US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told a briefing Tuesday.