Bangkok hotel deaths: We couldn’t accept our son had died in Thailand, says victim’s mother

One of the people found dead in an upscale Bangkok hotel on July 16 had been in the Thai capital on a work trip, and was originally supposed to be back home on July 14, his mother said.

Vietnamese make-up artist Phu Gia Gia, born Tran Dinh Phu, was among the six who were found dead

in a suite at the Grand Hyatt Erawan

.

The others were Vietnamese nationals Nguyen Thi Phuong Lan, 47; Pham Hong Thanh, 49; and Nguyen Thi Phuong, 46; and two Vietnamese individuals with American citizenship – Sherine Chong, 56; and Dang Hung Van, 55.

Thai police on July 17 said cyanide poisoning is likely the cause of the six deaths.

The suspected killer

is also among the dead.

Vietnamese media outlet VnExpress, citing media outlet Ngoi Sao, on July 16 reported Mr Phu’s mother as saying that she and her husband were both “completely stunned” by the news.

“We were in total shock last night after receiving the dreadful news from his friends, colleagues and the artists he had worked with,” she said.

“After looking at the information and documents that the Thai police posted online, we were deeply shocked and couldn’t accept that our 37-year-old son had passed away in Thailand.”

According to the report, Mr Phu had told his parents that he was headed to Thailand for three days on a work trip, but did not specify who he was travelling with.

He left on July 12 and was scheduled to return on July 14, but told his father that he would be back on July 15 instead as he still had work to do, according to VnExpress.

That was his last contact with his family.

Mr Phu, from the coastal city of Da Nang, had worked with various celebrities and beauty queens after spending almost 20 years in the beauty industry.

Thai police on July 17 said they

found poison in the cups

in the room where the bodies were found.

“We found cyanide in the teacups, all six cups we found cyanide,” Mr Trirong Phiwpan, commander of the Thai police evidence office, told a press conference, according to Reuters.

“After staff brought teacups and two hot water bottles, milk and teapots... One of the six introduced cyanide.”

The results of an autopsy were expected within the next day, the police added.

The police have assumed that the victims were dead for about 24 hours before they were discovered.

While initial news reports had mentioned a shooting, Thai police ruled this out as a cause of death. They also ruled out robbery and a fight as possible motives for the poisoning. 

According to Thailand’s Khaosod English news outlet, Major-General Theeradej Thumsuthee, chief investigator of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, said one of the victims had poisoned the others, likely due to debt issues.

On July 17, Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said the

US Federal Bureau of Investigation had joined the Thai authorities

in the investigation into the six deaths.