Cyanide found in teapot shared by six people found dead in Bangkok hotel room

Traces of cyanide have been found in cups and a teapot in a luxury Bangkok hotel room where the bodies of six people were discovered in a suspected deliberate poisoning.

Doctors at King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital said initial autopsy results also showed traces of the deadly, fast-acting chemical in each of the victims’ bodies, and confirmed they died of cyanide poisoning.

Doctors are still waiting for results showing the exact levels of cyanide in each victim’s blood.

Dr Kornkiat Vongpaisarnsin said scans showed no signs of blunt force trauma to the dead.

Thai police said earlier this morning that cyanide poisoning was the likely cause of death for the three men and three women.

The four Vietnamese nationals and two Vietnamese-Americans were found by a hotel staff member in the room, which was locked from the inside.

The food ordered through room service was found untouched inside the room, but the drinks had been consumed.

Four of the bodies were in the living room and two in the bedroom.

Two of them appeared to have tried to reach the door but collapsed before they could, police said.

Hotel records show there were no other visitors in the room.

Police Lieutenant General Trairong Phiwpan, head of the Thai police’s forensic division, said at a news conference on Wednesday that one of the six suspects was the one who committed the killings at the Grand Hyatt Erawan hotel.

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

Interviews with relatives of the victims revealed there had been a dispute over a debt, police said.

Officers said the investigation – aided by the FBI – also revealed that a possible motive could be a dispute between the six victims over multi-million baht investments.

The three deceased women have been identified as Nguyen Thi Phuong, 46, Sherine Chong, 56, and Nguyen Thi Phuong Lan, also 46.

The male victims are Tran Dinh Phu, 37, Dang Hung Van, 55, and Hong Thanh Pham, 49.

The six people were last seen alive when the meal was delivered to the room on Monday afternoon.

The Vietnamese government said its embassy in Bangkok was working with Thai authorities on the case, while the U.S. State Department said it was monitoring the situation.

Some Thai media initially reported that the deaths were caused by a shooting.

The hotel, operated by the Erawan Group, has more than 350 rooms and is located in a popular tourist area of ​​the Thai capital known for its luxury shopping and restaurants.

Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin yesterday called for a swift investigation into the deaths to limit the impact on Thailand’s vital tourism sector.

Asked whether the deaths would affect a meeting with the Russian energy minister at the hotel later in the day, the prime minister said that was unlikely.

“It was not an act of terrorism or a security breach, everything is fine,” he said.

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In 2023, Sararat Rangsiwuthaporn, or “Am Cyanide” as she would later be known, became Thailand’s first female serial killer.

She poisoned 15 people – to whom she owed money – with cyanide over several years.

At least 14 of them died – one survived.