Bangkok hotel deaths: Woman suspected of poisoning others before killing herself over debt problem

A Vietnamese-American, Sherine Chong, has been identified by Thai police as the suspect who poisoned five others at the luxurious Grand Hyatt Erawan hotel in Bangkok, before killing herself with the poison.

Cyanide poisoning was likely the cause of the deaths, police said.

Thai investigators came to the conclusion after questioning witnesses, including the daughter of one of the dead, said Police Major General Theeradet Thumsuthee, head of investigation of Bangkok's Metropolitan Police Bureau, as cited by Thai newspapers Khaosod and Bangkok Post on July 17.

Debt issues are suspected to be the motive behind the deaths, said Theeradet. Thai police are not looking into other possible suspects, as the room where the bodies were discovered were locked from the inside and no one else was found to have entered. There were no signs of a struggle.

Chong is suspected to have drugged the others before committing suicide, Thai police said on July 17.

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"The case likely stems from a debt problem. There are no other possibilities. The culprit is among the six (dead) because they were the only people who entered the room. There were no others," Theeradet said.

The debt is suspected to have resulted from an investment in a construction business that went bust.

After questioning witnesses which included some of the deceased individual's relatives, investigators said that those who died were a mix of borrowers, lenders and guarantors, without providing further details. A report from the Royal Thai Police said two of the deceased were married to each other.

The amounts involved have not been revealed.

The group of three men and three women were all of Vietnamese descent.