6 Vietnamese, American guests found dead in Bangkok hotel room, poisoning suspected

Their deaths may have been caused by poisoning, police and officials said.

Bangkok police chief Lt. Gen. Thiti Sangsawang identified the dead as two Vietnamese Americans and four Vietnamese nationals, and said there were three males and three females.

The two American nationals are Sherine Chong, 56, and Dang Hung Van, 55, while the Vietnamese nationals are Nguyen Thi Phuong Lan, 47, Pham Hong Thanh, 49, Tran Dinh Phu, 37, and Nguyen Thi Phuong, 46, according to Khaosod English.

Investigators said the bodies were foaming at the mouth, an officer from the Lumpini police station said on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to release information.

Staff stand in the lobby of a hotel where a number of people were found dead in Bangkok, Thailand, July 16, 2024. Photo by AP/Napat Kongsawad

The victims had booked several rooms at the Grand Hyatt Erawan Hotel under seven names, and some were staying on a different floor from the room where they were found dead, Thiti said. Police are still looking for the seventh person included in the booking, Thiti said at a news conference at the hotel.

He said there were no signs of a struggle. The residents of the room where the bodies were found were supposed to have checked out earlier Tuesday and their luggage had already been packed, he said. The bodies were discovered by a maid who went to the room after they failed to check out and found it locked from the inside, Thiti said.

There was food that had been ordered earlier from room service that was left uneaten, but drinks had been consumed, Thiti said. He would not confirm a cause of death, but said the deaths appeared to have occurred about 24 hours before police arrived on the scene Tuesday evening after being called by hotel staff.

Several Thai newspapers said the victims could be poisoned with cyanide.

The Grand Hyatt Erawan has over 350 rooms and is located in a popular tourist district known for luxury shopping and restaurants.

Pham Viet Hung, Vietnamese Ambassador to Thailand, went to the scene after the incident was reported.

He said the Vietnamese embassy is working with local authorities to clarify the situation and perform necessary citizen protection measures.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Thailand Pham Viet Hung (3rd, R) meets with Thailand PM Srettha Thavisin (4th, R) at a hotel where a number of people were found dead in Bangkok, Thailand, July 16, 2024. Photo by VNA

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said U.S. officials are aware of the reports of the deaths of two U.S. citizens in Bangkok.

"We offer our sincere condolences to the families on their loss. We are closely monitoring the situation and stand ready to provide consular assistance to those families," he said.

Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin went to the hotel in the evening, and later told journalists that the incident was neither a robbery nor a random assault.

Pending the results of autopsies, "Our hypothesis is that they ingested something that killed them," Srettha said.

"The prime minister has ordered all agencies to urgently take action to avoid impact on tourism," the Thai government said in its statement.

More than 28 million foreign tourists visited Thailand last year, spending 1.2 trillion baht ($33.71 billion) in the country, where other key sectors of the economy have been slow in recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The government expects 35 million foreign arrivals this year, on the back of longer visa stay periods and waivers for several nationalities.

The tourism sector was shaken last October by a shooting spree at a luxury shopping mall, close to the Hyatt, in which two foreigners were killed, prompting government measures to improve confidence.