An opulent Bangkok hotel popular with tourists and the well-heeled is the site of six mysterious killings involving cyanide and coffee, police said.
Inside a luxury hotel suite in the heart of downtown Bangkok, the table was set for six, the food delivered by room service. One day later, a maid would find six bodies in that room, and cyanide dregs in their coffee and tea cups.
The door had been locked from the inside, the food uneaten on the table, with plastic wrap still covering servings of fried rice.
For the past several days, those killings have stunned Thailand, a country that depends heavily on tourist dollars and is one of the world's favorite vacation destinations.
On Wednesday, Thai police announced that the poisonings were conducted by one of the people who died in that room. The motive was apparently an investment deal that had soured, police said.
"We are convinced that one of the six people found dead committed this crime," said Noppasil Poonsawas, a deputy commander of Bangkok police, at a crowded press conference.
The dead were identified as two American citizens of Vietnamese heritage and four citizens of Vietnam, according to authorites. Three were men, three were women and their ages ranged from 37 to 56, Thai police said.
The Thai prime minister had rushed Tuesday evening to the Grand Hyatt Erawan, an opulent resort with wood-paneled walls and marble floors that sits across a famous Hindu shrine in the nation's capital.
Chaos descended on the five-star hotel Tuesday evening as reporters and authorities crushed into the lobby after a maid discovered the bodies when dispatched to check on the suite after its occupants failed to check out, harried authorities said.
By Wednesday, preliminary autopsies determined that blood from one victim contained cyanide traces. The toxin quickly hastens death by shutting down the body's ability to absorb oxygen. The fast-acting poison was also detected in thermoses and cups bearing coffee and tea, officials said.
The motive behind the murders was apparently personal and fueled by a financial disagreement, authorities said.
"This wasn't an act of terrorism or a breach in security. Everything is fine," Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said Wednesday.
Two bodies were found in the suite's bedroom, and the other four were discovered in the sitting room, police said. One person had apparently tried to get to the door, but collapsed before reaching it, police said. The victims had last been seen at the hotel on Monday, based on surveillance footage, authorities said.
They were part of a group that arrived earlier this month, police said.
Room service was delivered that day and was accepted by a woman, video surveillance showed, investigators said. It appears no one left the room after that, authorities said. The maid was dispatched Tuesday after the group failed to check out, Thavisin said.
Agents from the FBI have arrived to assist Bangkok authorities in the investigation, authorities said. The embassies of Vietnam and the U.S. are also involved, the prime minister said.
Last year, Thailand was gripped by reports of a serial killer who allegedly killed at least 14 people to whom she owed money by poisoning their food with cyanide, authorities said. Sararat Rangsiwuthaporn, later known as "Am Cyanide," was the Southeast Asian country's first female serial killer, police said.
She has pleaded not guilty, according to local reports.
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