Six foreigners found dead in Thailand hotel room

Six foreign nationals were found dead in a luxury hotel room in central Bangkok on Tuesday, Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said, with police suspecting they were poisoned.

“There was no sign of a struggle,” Srettha told a news conference at the Grand Hyatt Erawan hotel in the upscale Pathum Wan district, where the incident took place.

“We have to do an autopsy to see if they ingested anything,” he said, dispelling rumors that the deaths were linked to a robbery and a shooting.

The prime minister said the six dead were all Vietnamese, including two who held dual U.S. citizenship.

The case was reported at 4:30 p.m. (0930 GMT) after cleaning staff discovered the bodies as they arrived to clean the room on the fifth floor, police said.

Srettha arrived at the scene shortly afterwards. He said he believed a seventh Vietnamese man might be involved in the incident.

Bangkok Metropolitan Police Chief Bureau Thiti Sangsawang said guests had not left the hotel this afternoon.

A preliminary examination revealed no evidence of injuries related to a fight or robbery, but suggested the six people had ingested a toxic substance, Thiti said.

“We need to find out the motives,” he said, adding that the deaths were not the result of suicide, but “murder.”

– Investigation in progress –

A police officer speaking on condition of anonymity denied initial reports that the six people were killed in a shootout, saying the investigation was now focusing on a “toxic substance link.”

Some of the six foreigners appeared to be making their first trip to the country, while others appeared to be return visitors, he added.

In a statement, police said they were still investigating the scene and cause of death.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller expressed “our sincere condolences to the families for their loss” and said the agency was “closely monitoring the situation” and stood “ready to provide assistance to these families.”

The area where the crime took place is popular with tourists and is home to several high-end shopping malls and the Erawan Shrine, a tourist attraction.

Last October, a 14-year-old boy opened fire in the area’s Siam Paragon shopping mall, killing three people.

The shootings came days before the anniversary of a massacre at a nursery in northern Thailand that left 36 people dead and amid government efforts to boost tourist numbers.

Some 28 million people visited Thailand in 2023, up from 11 million the previous year but still well below the 40 million who came in 2019, the last year before the pandemic.

Travel restrictions during the Covid-19 pandemic have battered the kingdom’s vital tourism sector and arrivals have not rebounded as quickly as authorities had hoped.

Authorities hope to reach 35 million visitors by 2024, with a target of $55 billion in revenue.

AFP