Cyanide on teacups in Thai hotel suite where six died

Police have found traces of cyanide on teacups in a room at a luxury Bangkok hotel where six foreign nationals were found dead on Tuesday.

- ALISHA RAHAMAN SARKAR

The bodies of at least two Vietnamese-Americans and four Vietnamese nationals were found in the Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok, police said.

America’s FBI has joined the Thai police in investigating the deaths at the hotel, which is very popular with tourists. The victims, three men and three women, were aged between 37 and 56, according to Noppasin Punsawat, Bangkok’s deputy police chief.

Forensics officials said yesterday that traces of cyanide were found on cups and vacuum flasks in the suite where the bodies were discovered. Tests are still being conducted on the victims and a formal cause of death has not been announced. But officials at the Chulalongkorn Hospital, to which the bodies were brought, said an autopsy also found traces of cyanide.

The bodies showed traces of the rapid-acting chemical and had purple lips, indicating a lack of oxygen, Chulalongkorn Hospital’s Kornkiat Vongpaisarnsin told reporters.

The Thai government said prime minister Srettha Thavisin has ordered all agencies involved to take urgent action, as the country seeks to avoid any further impact on the wider tourism industry. It said the Vietnamese and the American embassies had been contacted over the deaths.