BANGKOK: Cyanide poisoning was likely the cause of the deaths of six foreigners whose bodies were found in a room in a plush Bangkok hotel, with the suspected killer among the dead, Thai police said on Wednesday
The rapid-acting, deadly chemical was found on drinking glasses and a teapot in the room at the luxury Grand Hyatt Erawan hotel, and interviews with relatives of the dead revealed there had been a dispute over debt related to an investment, police said.
The six were all of Vietnamese ethnicity, two of those US nationals, and were found dead late on Tuesday. The US Federal Bureau of Investigation had assisted police with the investigation, police said.
“We found cyanide in the teacups, all six cups we found cyanide,” Trirong Phiwpan, Commander of the Thai police evidence office, told a press conference.
“After staff brought tea cups and two hot water bottles, milk and tea pots ... one of the six introduced cyanide.”
The results of an autopsy were expected within the next day, police said.
Vietnam’s government said its embassy in Bangkok was closely coordinating with Thai authorities on the case, while the US State Department said it was monitoring the situation and local authorities were responsible for the investigation.
The Grand Hyatt Erawan, operated by Erawan Group , has over 350 rooms and is located in a popular tourist district known for luxury shopping and restaurants.
News of the deaths, initially reported by some Thai media as a shooting, could be a setback for Thailand as it bets heavily on its vital tourism sector reviving an economy that has struggled since the pandemic.
Thailand is expecting 35 million foreign arrivals this year, up from 28 million last year who spent 1.2 trillion baht ($33.71 billion).
Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin on Tuesday urged a swift probe into the issue to limit the impact on Thailand’s travel sector.
Thai police say cyanide killed 6 foreigners in Bangkok hotel, including suspect
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Thai police say cyanide killed 6 foreigners in Bangkok hotel, including suspect
- The rapid-acting, deadly chemical was found on drinking glasses and a teapot in the room at the luxury Grand Hyatt Erawan hotel
- The six were all of Vietnamese ethnicity, two of those US nationals, and were found dead late on Tuesday
Activist Peter Tatchell arrested over ‘globalize the intifada’ placard
- Arrest in London during Saturday protest an ‘attack on free speech,’ his foundation says
- Intifada ‘does not mean violence and is not antisemitic,’ veteran campaigner claims
LONDON: Prominent activist Peter Tatchell was arrested at a pro-Palestine march in central London, The Independent reported.
According to his foundation, the 74-year-old was arrested for holding a placard that said: “Globalize the intifada: Nonviolent resistance. End Israel’s occupation of Gaza & West Bank.”
The Peter Tatchell Foundation said in a statement that the activist labeled his Saturday arrest as an “attack on free speech.”
It added: “The police claimed the word intifada is unlawful. The word intifada is not a crime in law. The police are engaged in overreach by making it an arrestable offense.
“This is part of a dangerous trend to increasingly restrict and criminalize peaceful protests.”
Tatchell described the word “intifada,” an Arab term, as meaning “uprising, rebellion or resistance against Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.
“It does not mean violence and is not antisemitic. It is against the Israeli regime and its war crimes, not against Jewish people.”
According to his foundation, Tatchell was transported to Sutton police station to be detained following his arrest.
In December last year, London’s Metropolitan Police said that pro-Palestine protesters chanting “globalize the intifada” would face arrest, attributing the new rules to a “changing context” in the wake of the Bondi Beach attack in Australia.
“Officers policing the Palestine Coalition protest have arrested a 74-year-old man on suspicion of a public order offense. He was seen carrying a sign including the words ‘globalize the intifada’,” the Metropolitan Police said on X.
According to a witness, Tatchell had been marching near police officers with the placard for about a mile when the group came across a counterprotest.
He was then stopped and “manhandled by 10 officers,” said Jacky Summerfield, who accompanied Tatchell at the protest.
“I was shoved back behind a cordon of officers and unable to speak to him after that,” she said.
“I couldn’t get any closer to hear anything more than that; it was for Section 5 (of the Public Order Act).
“There had been no issue until that. He was walking near the police officers. Nobody had said or done anything.”
