A woman has been arrested on suspicion of premeditated murder after she was accused of poisoning a friend using cyanide in Ratchaburi, central Thailand, with police saying they are also investigating the circumstances of nine further deaths.
The accused, identified in Thai media as Sararath Rangsiwutthiporn, or Am, had travelled with her friend, Siriporn Khanwong, known as Koi, to make merit by releasing fish at a pier in Ratchaburi on 14 April.
Police said an autopsy had found cyanide in the victim’s body. They are investigating the deaths of nine more people known to Sararath.
Sararath, who was arrested on Tuesday morning, has not commented publicly on the accusations. Her lawyer told the broadcaster Channel 3 that such allegations were serious, and that evidence must be seen.
Surachate Hakparn, the assistant national police chief of the royal Thai police, said the accused was known to all of those who died, and that it was possible she had targeted them for financial reasons.
Surachate said police had identified 11 victims in total, including one person who survived. The survivor had gone to eat food with the defendant, he said. “The victim vomited and fainted, but she survived,” he said.
Surachate said the defendant denied all the charges. Autopsies had been carried out on three of the bodies, he said.
A report by Thai media said that items had been stolen from Siriporn, including two phones, two bags and money.
Recovering evidence from previous deaths that were considered suspicious would be challenging, Surachate said. “As no case was filed [at the time of such deaths] there wasn’t any investigation of crime scenes, or anything,” he said.
Surachate said police were not aware of any accomplice but that investigations would continue. Affected families were in contact with police, he said. “Some of them thought that their beloved died of natural causes. We will talk and find more links today,” he said.
