Six people, including two American citizens, were found dead in a luxury hotel in Bangkok, Thailand, on Tuesday. The bodies were discovered at the Grand Hyatt Erawan around 4 p.m. local time, according to Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin. The victims were identified as four Vietnamese nationals and two Americans.Six people, including two American citizens, were found dead in a luxury hotel in Bangkok, Thailand, on Tuesday. The bodies were discovered at the Grand Hyatt Erawan around 4 p.m. local time, according to Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin. The victims were identified as four Vietnamese nationals and two Americans. Preliminary investigations suggest that the deaths may have been caused by the ingestion of a harmful substance. The bodies showed no signs of robbery or assault, and the room where they were found was locked from the inside. Police are considering the possibility that the deaths were deliberate, and are investigating whether someone intended to harm or kill the group. The deaths are a blow to Thailand’s tourism industry, which relies heavily on foreign visitors. The Grand Hyatt Erawan is a popular destination for tourists from around the world, and the incident has raised concerns about the safety of visitors to the country. The Vietnamese Foreign Ministry has sent an ambassador to the hotel to work with local authorities on the investigation. The U.S. State Department and the U.S. embassies in Bangkok and Hanoi have also been notified of the incident. The investigation is ongoing, and more details are expected to be released as they become available.
Six people, two of whom were American citizens, were found dead in a luxury hotel in Bangkok on Tuesday in what police suspect was murder.
The bodies were found at the Grand Hyatt Erawan around 4 p.m. local time on Tuesday, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said at a news conference at the hotel.
The dead were all Vietnamese, two of them American and four Vietnamese, Srettha said, adding that he had spoken to the Vietnamese ambassador.
The prime minister said the people had been dead since Monday. There were no immediate signs of robbery or assault and preliminary investigations focused on the possibility that the visitors had ingested a harmful substance, he said.
Lt. Gen. Thiti Sangsawang, commissioner of the Bangkok Metropolitan Police Bureau, said investigators’ initial conclusion was that the person responsible for the deaths was not among the dead.
“We are not saying that they were poisoned,” he said at the news conference. “We are considering the possibility that their lives were deliberately chosen. There is a suspicion that someone intended to harm or kill this group of people.”
The deaths of six foreigners at a luxury hotel in the Thai capital could be a blow to a country whose economy relies heavily on tourism.
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Angelina Hue, spokeswoman for Hyatt’s Asia Pacific region, said in an emailed statement that Hyatt is “deeply saddened by this tragic situation” and that “the safety and security of our guests and colleagues is always a top priority.” She said Hyatt is cooperating with local authorities and referred further questions to law enforcement.
The Vietnamese Foreign Ministry said in a statement to The Washington Post that Vietnam’s ambassador to Thailand, Pham Viet Hung, went to the hotel with embassy officials and that the embassy was working closely with local officials to “monitor the incident, clarify information, identify victims and implement necessary civil protection measures.”
Representatives from the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the U.S. State Department and the U.S. embassies in Bangkok and Hanoi did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
photos of the room where the bodies were found, a scattering of room service food and tea cups could be seen. Most of the food appeared untouched, with plastic wrap still on some plates.
Although the food was uneaten, the drinks in the cups appeared to be “completely consumed,” with a residue at the bottom, said Thiti, the police chief. The residue was collected as evidence, he said.
The dead had no injuries, except for one person who had a “facial wound” that appeared to have been caused by a fall on a hard surface, rather than being struck, he said.
The room was locked from the inside, Thiti said. When the residents didn’t check out on time, he said, a housekeeper entered through a back door and found the bodies. Management then called police.
Four of the bodies were found in a living room and two in a bedroom, Thiti said. The people checked into the hotel at different times and occupied five rooms on two floors of the hotel.
The people moved their luggage to one of their rooms, “suggesting that these individuals knew each other,” the commissioner said. The hotel told police that payment for the stay had not been arranged.
Authorities searched table settings and items left in the room, guests’ luggage, security camera footage and visitors’ social media profiles to try to piece together what had happened, he said.
Wilawan reported from Bangkok. Rebecca Tan in Singapore contributed to this report.
