Police have arrested two men from Cameroon and Myanmar on suspicion of murdering a Taiwanese man at a hotel in Bang Na district of Bangkok on Thursday.
Suspects identified as John Agbor and Zwe Lin Pyae have been arrested while an unidentified white man remains at large. (Police photos)
The Myanmar suspect has confessed that a Thai woman had hired him.
Pol Maj Gen Theeradet Thamsuthee, investigative chief of the Metropolitan Police Bureau (MPB), said yesterday that John Agbor, a 40-year-old Cameroonian, and Zwe Lin Pyae, 21, were arrested on Srinakarin Road in Bang Na district late Thursday night.
They were charged with the premeditated murder of Chu Chiang Shen, 48, whose body was found in a room on the sixth floor of the Niran Grand Hotel on Udomsuk Soi 17 off Sukhumvit 103 (Udomsuk) Road, on Thursday morning.
Hotel staff found the body after the victim's friend reported that the victim could not be contacted by phone.
According to Pol Maj Gen Theeradet, the arrested suspects, along with another unidentified white European man who remains at large, targeted the victim's wealth based on information from a Thai woman who allegedly ordered the attack, claiming that the victim was rich.
The gang rented another room on the fifth floor of the same hotel to prepare for the crime.
The three suspects attacked the Taiwanese man in his room around 1am on Thursday, tying his head with a plastic food wrap sheet and using belts to secure his limbs.
An injury above the victim's right eyebrow made it look as though he had been hit with a heavy object, while the sheet was reportedly full of bloodstains.
The attackers did not find the victim's money but made off with his notebook, computer, and mobile phone.
Officers said they found two small electronic safes and two suitcases had been left inside the room.
Zwe Lin Pyae told police that Chu Chiang Shen was alive when he left the hotel room.
A police source said that John Agbor denied all charges and insisted on his innocence during the interrogation in which he claimed to be a "language teacher".
Pol Maj Gen Theeradet revealed that police are tracking the Caucasian suspect caught on the hotel's CCTV.
An arrest warrant has been issued, he said.