Somsak Butsri confirmed that his brother, Thai travel YouTuber Hlun Solo (Bowornthat Pengsuk), will have his body flown from Tbilisi to Thailand on August 5. Thai Embassy staff will meet the flight at Tbilisi International Airport to supervise the transfer.
The 27-year-old’s remains are scheduled to arrive in Thailand the next day. His family and Thai officials continue to press Georgian authorities for the full autopsy and toxicology reports that have not yet reached them.
The Flight Home Begins Today
Brother Somsak Butsri, also known online as Mos or Klose Mos, posted the schedule on August 4. Embassy representatives will oversee the process at the airport. The Thai side also asked Georgian officials for the expedited release of forensic results and the return of Hlun Solo’s personal belongings.
A relative update carried the same dates: remains leave Georgia August 5 and reach Thailand August 6. Volunteers and an honorary consul have helped coordinate on the ground. The family publicly thanked the Foreign Ministry, embassy staff and Thai volunteers who stayed with the case.
Insurance from Sompo Thailand will cover the full repatriation cost. The policy also holds a 5-million-baht payout once death certificate, medical reports and police findings clear the terms.
What Georgian Authorities Recorded
Georgia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs first confirmed the death of the 27-year-old on July 29. Investigators opened a case under Article 115 of the Criminal Code, the provision on incitement to suicide. Officials use the article as standard procedure when the cause of a non-violent death remains unclear and further forensic work is required.
The body was discovered in a Tbilisi hotel room on July 14. Belongings were found intact. No public details on the exact cause, time of death or last contacts have been released. The Interior Ministry has given no further comments while the probe continues.
Thailand has no embassy in Tbilisi. Consular coverage runs through the Royal Thai Embassy in Ankara. Embassy officers traveled to Georgia, met local law enforcement, and received the official diplomatic note dated July 29.
Family Rejects the Default Framing
Hlun Solo’s relatives reject any suggestion of suicide. His 82-year-old grandmother, Som Plengsuk, told Thai reporters her grandson was cheerful, sociable and well-liked, with no known enemies or disputes. He had been saving to renovate or rebuild her house in Kalasin. Those plans, she said, gave the family no reason to accept the online claims.
At this stage, we cannot draw any conclusions. It is better to wait for the official investigation.
Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow made that statement on July 30, urging the public to wait for Georgian findings rather than speculation. He said repatriation procedures would begin only after the probe advanced and would follow the family’s wishes.
Relatives also asked why police could not reach them sooner. Hlun Solo checked into the hotel with his passport, which should have supplied identification and contact routes.
Two Weeks Without Word
The family last spoke with Hlun Solo on July 13. He was filming solo travel content in Georgia. When contact stopped they posted public appeals. On July 28 his brother still sought help locating him. Georgian media and the Interior Ministry confirmed the death only on July 29.
That left a two-week delay before family notification. The Thai Embassy in Ankara was still posting search updates on July 29, hours before the diplomatic note arrived. OC Media reported the body had been found the day after last contact, yet the family learned of it through social-media messages before official papers.
Grandmother Som spent the final day and night of uncertainty hoping he was safe and preparing to come home, as he had after earlier trips.
- July 13, 2026: Last family contact; Hlun Solo filming in Georgia.
- July 14, 2026: Body discovered in Tbilisi hotel room.
- July 28, 2026: Brother posts public missing appeal.
- July 29, 2026: Georgian Interior Ministry confirms death; Art 115 case opened; diplomatic note issued.
- July 30, 2026: Family confirms death publicly; grandmother rejects suicide claims; Thai FM speaks.
- August 4, 2026: Brother announces repatriation schedule.
- August 5, 2026: Body departs Tbilisi under embassy oversight.
Earlier Cases Share the Same Legal Path
Coverage of Hlun Solo’s death quickly noted other foreign visitors found dead in Tbilisi under comparable circumstances. Thai Enquirer listed several that also opened under Article 115 with limited public forensic detail.
| Name | Nationality | Approx. Date | Location Detail | Investigation Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hlun Solo (Bowornthat Pengsuk) | Thai | July 2026 | Tbilisi hotel | Art 115; cause undisclosed |
| Alina Kambarova | Russian | March 2026 | Panorama 360 Hotel | Art 115; limited release |
| Dhvanit Rajdeep | Indian | May 2026 | Mtkvari River | Art 115; family alleged harassment |
| Huseyn Bakikhanov | Azerbaijani | 2021 | Stamba Hotel roof | Art 115 after assault claim |
Authorities have announced no links among the cases. Each involved a foreign national, unclear circumstances at the outset, the same criminal-code article, and slow or incomplete public disclosure of autopsy and toxicology results. Hlun Solo’s family is now seeking exactly those files plus hotel records, surveillance, precise time of death and an account of who last saw him.
The pattern of similar Tbilisi hotel deaths under same article has sharpened questions about hotel check-in protocols and how quickly foreign missions are notified when a passport is on file.
Who He Was Before the Headlines
Bowornthat Pengsuk grew up in Kalasin province in northeastern Thailand. After his father died he was raised by his grandmother. He won a scholarship to Chulalongkorn University and graduated in political science. He worked factory jobs in Bangkok, sometimes for roughly 300 baht a day, while saving for travel.
He built Hlun Solo as a solo backpacking channel that showed practical, low-budget journeys. Followers numbered roughly 914,000 on YouTube and 2.5 million on Facebook at the time of his disappearance. Fans described him as the opposite of polished influencers: disciplined, useful, and open about starting from little.
One café owner who once chatted with him as a student later posted that the young man who asked the meaning of a shop name had become an inspiration for perseverance. Tributes after the news focused on that path from night shifts to international trails.
- Family demands: full autopsy and toxicology reports transferred to Thai side.
- Belongings: personal items returned promptly.
- Records sought: hotel registration, CCTV, last known contacts, exact time of death.
- Process: embassy letter already sent requesting expedited handling.
Reports Still Outstanding as the Plane Leaves
Even as the body departs, the core forensic package has not reached Thailand. The embassy’s letter asked Georgian authorities to speed the transfer of autopsy and toxicology results. Thai officials have repeated that they will not draw conclusions until those documents arrive and the Georgian investigation finishes.
The Interior Ministry Article 115 investigation remains open. No cause has been made public. The family’s position is unchanged: they want a complete accounting, not a procedural label.
On X, the brother’s update that the remains due to leave Georgia on August 5 drew thanks and quiet mourning from followers who had followed the search and then the confirmation. Many noted the same resilience story that made the channel popular.
Hlun Solo’s body is coming home. The answers his grandmother and brother have asked for since July 30 are still in Georgian files.
