Five family members were found dead in Bangkok on New Year’s Eve in an apparent murder-suicide committed by the family’s breadwinner.
The landlord of the family's rental home in Bang Yee Rua of Thong Buri district found the bodies of Anan Charuphankit, 64, his 14- and 16-year-old children, his mother and sister around 8.30pm Wednesday, according to Thai media reports.
The man's mother, Kiengsiem Sae Lim, 89, and Phetcharat Charuphankit, 61, were found laying on the ground floor, covered with blankets.
Anan, his daughter, Phetcharat, 16, and son Aphisit, 14, were found hung from a staircase railing. Police found a suicide note written by the two children to their mother, who had left the family. They also found four knives nearby. Three chairs were knocked over and police recovered two soft drink bottles, one still containing some liquid that police planned to test for poison.
Royal Thai Police's spokesman Pol Lt Gen Prawut Thavornsiri said investigating officers suspected Anan killed his mother and sister and that he and the children hung themselves. Autopsies were planned to determine if they had ingested poison as well.
Police said a neighbour revealed the family had been living there for more than two years. Anan used to be a trader in Yaowarat, but later had to stay home to care for his mother and younger sister, who had shown symptoms of mental problems.
Anan informed his landlord that his family would move out on New Year's Eve and made an appointment with the homeowner to settle the rent. He said they planned to move to a new house near a hospital for his mother's convenience.
The landlord said no one answered the door, so he opened the house, becoming the first to find the bodies.