(Bloomberg) -- Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin ordered an urgent probe into the mysterious deaths of six foreigners at a luxury hotel in Bangkok on Tuesday, as authorities rushed to contain any fallout on the nation’s key tourism industry.
The bodies of the victims were found in a suite in the Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok hotel, which is located near the downtown Ratchaprasong intersection, an area popular with foreign tourists, according to Srettha. The people were likely killed by poisoning and were dead for about 24 hours before they were found, the premier said at a late-night news conference at the hotel.
The six victims were Vietnamese, with two of them holding US citizenships, he said. “Our working hypothesis is there was a seventh Vietnamese person,” Srettha told reporters. “This won’t have an impact on tourism.”
The motive was not immediately clear, according to Thiti Saengsawang, chief of Bangkok’s Metropolitan Police Bureau. Investigators found six tea cups with “residues” at the bottom, while food was left untouched on the plates after a room service delivery on Monday afternoon, Thiti said during the briefing.
Five hotel rooms were booked for seven guests but only five people had checked in. The five were found dead by a cleaner in the fifth-floor suite, along with another person, leaving one as a suspect, Thiti said.
There was no sign of struggle or violence at the scene and no significant bruises or wounds were found on the dead bodies. “This wasn’t a case of self-harm but the deaths were caused by someone else,” he told reporters.
The deceased comprised three women and three men aged from 37 years to 56, he said. Some were supposed to check out on Monday and others on Tuesday afternoon before they were found by the hotel cleaner. Police are searching baggage left in the rooms for more clues.
Torsak Sukvimol, chief of the Royal Thai Police, ordered officers to expedite the probe and track down any perpetrators.
Tourism is one of Thailand’s key industries accounting for about 20% of total jobs and making up roughly 12% of the nation’s $500 billion economy. Srettha’s administration has set a goal of attracting 80 million tourists by 2027.
Foreign arrivals to Thailand this year through July 14 rose about 35% from the same period in 2023, to 18.9 million, generating revenue of 891 billion baht ($25 billion), the Tourism and Sports Ministry said earlier Tuesday. China, Malaysia and India were the biggest sources of tourists so far in 2024.
(Updates throughout with more details from news briefing.)
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