Two brothers were arrested today in connection with the sale of herbal liqueurs laced with methanol, which have, so far, caused three deaths, left one person blind and put 14 others on ventilators.
According to police, the two brothers, only identified as “Surasak” and “Surachai”, confessed to producing the liqueurs in question as a side-line business.
They allegedly purchased the methanol from a factory in the Lat Krabang area of Bangkok. The liqueur recipe was found on the internet and involved, among other steps, mixing water and methanol for a 35-40% concentration of alcohol.
They rented a building in Kanchana Soi 25 in Bangkok and stored the mixture in gallon cans before supplying it to the stalls from which the victims bought it.
The two brothers are now in custody and could face charges of illegally producing and selling the liqueur without a permit and other crimes.
