THE puzzling “snake medicine No. 7” which one of the six Vietnamese visitors, with two being American citizens, who died in a murder-suicide at a luxury hotel on Tuesday (July 16) had asked her guide to buy for her turned out to be a Thai supplement and not a poison as earlier suspected, Matichon newspaper said late tonight.
Police had earlier concluded that a woman in the group who died along with the others had poisoned them all with tea laced with cyanide at the Grand Hyatt Erawan Hotel over a 10 million baht investment not yielding returns.
However earlier this evening police questioned the guide, Mr. Phan Ngoc Vu, 35, who said Ms. Thi Nguyen Phuong Lan, 47, had given him 11,000 baht during July 3-5 to buy “snake medicine No. 7”
.Upon getting the order Phan said he passed it on to a man named “Tiger” who was told to directly contact Lan to deliver it which he did at one of the Atrium hotels in Bangkok.
Police sent a sample of this medicine, which was thought could be a poison, for a test to find out what exactly it is and are going through surveillance camera clips to trace and apprehend the man nicknamed Tiger.
Police later found out that “snake medicine” is a Thai supplement popular with Vietnamese people. It is only sold in Thailand so when Vietnamese people come here they usually either themselves buy it or ask the guide to do so for them.
Upon checking reporters of this newspaper discovered that there is a web page selling “snake” medicine online with the price for a bottle ranging from 3,000 to 8,000 baht depending on the formula with “number 7” being a particular one.
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Top and Front Page: A bottle of “snake” supplement. Photo: Matichon
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