Chiang Mai: A man allegedly shot and killed his two wives before turning the gun on himself in a 40-hour siege at a condominium in downtown Muang district.
The three had been charged by police with cheating 20 people of millions of baht by falsely claiming they had attractive vehicle number plates to sell.
Sumet Krongwong, 25, and his wives, Anada Piyarak, 18, and Wichuda Siamsak, 22, were found dead with fatal bullet wounds to the head in the bedroom of the condo in tambon Chang Puek.
Warrants for the trio's arrests were issued by the Phra Khanong Criminal Court in Bangkok. They were accused of opening a website which advertised many sought-after number plates for sale.
Many customers transferred money to the gang but never received the number plates. Anada would allegedly withdraw the victims' money from ATMs while Wichuda's role in the fraud was unclear.
In the late evening of Thursday, local police arrived at the condo with arrest warrants and asked the trio to surrender. Sumet refused and threatened to kill himself and the entire family including his three-year-old daughter he had with Wichuda.
The next day, Wichuda's mother came to the condo and negotiated for two hours with the family before they agreed to release the girl.
In the evening, four shots were heard from inside the room, which the police believed was meant to warn them to stay away. The police refrained from breaking into the room fearing Sumet, who was apparently armed, would hurt himself or the two women.
In the meantime, other condo tenants were evacuated while police slipped into the room next door to Sumet's. Nightfall came with no noise emanating from the room.
At around 2am on Friday morning, police launched a drone to check on the trio using a remote thermal scan which detected no life inside the room. The next morning police forced their way into the room and found the trio dead. The bodies were subsequently sent for autopsies.
Sumet had left a note, saying he had used a 9mm pistol to shoot his wives and himself.
Prachuab Wongsuk, commissioner of the Provincial Police Region 5, said police had formally charged the trio with defrauding people, money laundering and breaching the computer crime law. Families of the trio told police they did not suspect foul play.