Major General Witthawat Chinkham, commander of Team 5 of the Bangkok Metropolitan Police Bureau, stated that the police are investigating whether the cyanide found in the incident involving six Vietnamese nationals, including two Americans of Vietnamese descent, who died at the Grand Hyatt Erawan Hotel, was smuggled into Thailand or purchased locally. He noted that the police are awaiting the results of all forensic examinations before deciding whether to summon additional individuals for questioning.

The police have also identified a seventh person related to the case, who is the sister of one of the six victims. This individual returned to Vietnam on July 10 and is not believed to be involved in the incident.

On July 18, Mr. Chanchai Sittipunt, Director of Chulalongkorn Hospital, announced that the autopsies of the six victims had been completed. He added that if the police do not require further information, the victims' families will be allowed to claim the bodies.

Mr. Kornkiat Vongpaisarnsin, Director of the Forensic Examination Center at the Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, previously confirmed that initial tests detected cyanide in the victims' blood samples.

Police currently believe that Sherine Chong (56), an American of Vietnamese descent and one of the six found dead at the Grand Hyatt Erawan Hotel on the night of July 16, poisoned the others and then committed suicide. The motive is believed to be debt-related.

"The case likely stems from debt issues. There is no other possibility. The perpetrator is among the six deceased because they were the only ones who entered the room. There was no one else," said Major General Theeradet Thumsuthee, head of the Bangkok Metropolitan Police Bureau's investigation unit, after questioning the daughter of one of the victims and other witnesses.

In this incident, Sherine Chong allegedly targeted the victims, who included Dang Hung Van (55), an American of Vietnamese descent, and four Vietnamese nationals: married couple Nguyen Thi Phuong Lan (47) and Pham Hong Thanh (49), along with Tran Dinh Phu (37) and Nguyen Thi Phuong (46).

Chong had reportedly invited the five individuals to invest in construction projects. Among them, the married couple was said to have invested approximately 10 million baht in a hospital project in Japan. When the project did not progress, they filed a lawsuit.

The six individuals were scheduled to meet in court in two weeks. Chong invited them to negotiate before the court date. Initially, they planned to meet in Japan but later decided to gather in Bangkok.

They arrived in Bangkok at different times and stayed in separate rooms at the five-star Grand Hyatt Erawan Hotel. The five victims checked out at noon on July 15, but Chong retained room 502 and invited them back for further discussions. During this meeting, Chong served food and tea. The hotel staff discovered the six bodies in room 502 on the night of July 16. The police found cyanide residue in the six used tea cups in the hotel room.

According to sources, the Thai police have contacted US law enforcement officials to gather more information about Chong, who had obtained US citizenship.

It is reported that other Vietnamese individuals in San Francisco had filed a lawsuit against Chong more than a decade ago. They accused her of defrauding them by claiming she could help them obtain US citizenship. However, US prosecutors eventually dismissed the case against her.

Minh Thu