Hotel deaths in Bangkok

Sherine Chong is singled out for the cyanide poisoning

Sherine Chong, 56, poisoned five others with cyanide and then took the poison herself, police sources told Khaosod newspaper. Construction investments gone wrong are believed to be the motive, Thai police say.

When the food and drinks arrived in one of the five rooms the party was staying in, Sherine Chong was alone and took the order. Hotel staff offered to make tea but she refused to allow it. According to the staff, she was quiet and appeared to be under pressure, the BBC reports.

Relatives of two of the victims say that Sherine Chong borrowed money from their relatives for a construction project in Japan. A 37-year-old make-up artist hired by Chong had also invested in the project. He too is among the dead.

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Coroner: Lips and nails had turned dark purple

Autopsies have been performed on the six people found dead in a hotel room in Bangkok. Only cyanide poisoning can explain the deaths, the BBC reports, referring to doctors who participated in the autopsies.

Nails and lips of the victims had turned dark purple due to lack of oxygen. And the internal organs were blood red, a classic sign of cyanide poisoning, said Professor Kornkiat Vongpaisarnsin of the Department of Forensic Medicine at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok.

It has yet to be determined how large the fatal dose of cyanide was.

- From what we have seen during observations, examination of the internal organs and from findings of cyanide in the blood, there is nothing else that can explain the deaths other than cyanide poisoning, says the doctor Chanchai Sittipunt who participated in the autopsies.

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New details: Dead had drunk cyanide-laced tea

More details are emerging in the case of the six Vietnamese citizens who were found poisoned in a luxury hotel in Bangkok. Traces of cyanide have been found on teacups in the hotel room, says Bangkok Deputy Police Chief Noppassin Poonsawat, according to the BBC.

The six people had checked in separately in five different rooms on different floors. On Monday afternoon, everyone gathered in a room on the fifth floor. At 2 pm tea was ordered for the room. Hotel staff offered to make tea but this was refused by one of the now dead who instead made the tea himself.

A motive has become clear. Two of the dead had lent tens of millions of baht to a third person. Ten million baht is approximately three million Swedish kronor.

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Police: The dead had a conflict over a debt

According to Thai police, the six Vietnamese citizens who were found dead in a luxury hotel room in Bangkok have been poisoned with cyanide, several media reports.

One of the dead is believed to be the suspected killer.

At a press conference on Wednesday, police say cyanide has been found on teacups in the hotel room and that interviews with relatives of the dead have shown there is a conflict over a debt. Two of the dead had lent tens of millions of baht to a third. Ten million baht is approximately three million kroner.

The room was locked from the inside. When the residents did not check out, hotel staff entered the room and found the bodies.