Police are investigating the deaths of six people after their bodies were found in a luxury hotel suite in central Bangkok. Image source: Terrence Ong, via Wikimedia Commons.
Six people were found dead in a Bangkok luxury hotel in what Thai authorities suspect was a case of poisoning.
Cleaning staff discovered the bodies of three women and three men on a fifth-floor suite at the Grand Hyatt Erawan hotel on Tuesday afternoon, 16 July.
According to preliminary examinations, they had been dead for at least 24-hours before they were found. No cause of death is currently known.
They had ordered room service sometime after 1pm on Monday, though police reported that the hotel food found in the suite appeared to be untouched.
The door to the room was locked from the inside. Police said that the hotel worker was able to enter through a separate door.
Authorities said there was no sign of a struggle and denied that the group had been killed in a shooting or robbery.
Four of the deceased were Vietnamese nationals and two were American citizens of Vietnamese descent.
They had booked to stay at the hotel as a group of seven people — however, only five of them had checked in.
Metropolitan Police Bureau commissioner Thiti Saengsawang said police were searching for the seventh person in connection with the incident.
“This is not self-harm… someone caused the deaths,” Thiti told reporters.
“The food [found in the suite] was untouched, but all six cups were used.
“We could not find anything else around, even on the floor, but we found some kind of powder in the bottom of a cup.”
He did not confirm that they had been poisoned.
Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin visited the Grand Hyatt with senior police officials on Tuesday shortly after the deaths were reported.
“We need to conduct an autopsy to see if they had ingested anything,” he said during a press conference at the hotel.
Srettha said he had met with the Vietnamese ambassador to discuss the matter and ordered a swift investigation.
