AMNAT CHAROEN: Police are investigating the deaths of a foreign couple at their rented house in Phana district in a suspected murder-suicide.

Pol Col Chotnarin Sathupawarat, superintendent of Phana police station, said the couple, a 47-year-old Swiss man and a 40-year-old Moldovan woman, were found dead in the bedroom in their two-storey house on Saturday by police who were called to the scene.

Both had knife wounds to their throats and arms with the woman's body found on the bed and the man's body on the floor beside it. Two knives were found at the scene and a poodle dog was also found dead near the bathroom.

He said the floor was covered with blood and footprints, but there appeared to be no signs of struggle and the couple's belongings seemed to be in order.

Pol Col Chotnarin said police are interviewing witnesses and waiting for the autopsy report to determine the cause of the deaths and whether they were murder-suicide. However, police have not ruled out other possibilities.

Based on an initial investigation, police and forensic officials who arrived at the scene found the door locked and asked the landlord for a spare key to get inside. The bodies were sent to Sappasitprasong Hospital in Ubon Ratchathani for post-mortem examination.

Suthima Pantho, 43, a friend of the couple, said the Swiss man had asked her advice about a cannabis oil scheme. The couple had stayed in Thailand for about five months.

Ms Suthima said she went to a local market with the woman on Thursday morning, and received a message from her in the evening thanking her for taking care of them.

According to Ms Suthima, she replied to the message but received no further communication. She decided to visit the couple's house to check on them, only to make the gruesome discovery.