Thai travel YouTuber Hlun Solo was found dead in a hotel room in Tbilisi, Georgia, after his family spent more than two weeks trying to reach him. The 27-year-old creator, whose real name was Bowornthat Pengsuk, had traveled to the country earlier in July to film new material for his channels.
Georgian police confirmed his death on Wednesday and opened an investigation. Local reports said the circumstances remained unclear.
His family had appealed for help
Bowornthat’s brother had publicly asked for information after the creator stopped responding to relatives. His family said they last had contact with him on July 13.
Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs previously said it was helping with the search. The ministry coordinated with Georgian authorities, Thailand’s honorary consul designate and Thai volunteers based in Georgia.
A family friend who had been involved in efforts to locate Bowornthat later confirmed that his relatives had been notified of his death.
The news brought a painful end to a search followed closely by his audience. Bowornthat had built his career around traveling alone, but the concern surrounding his disappearance showed how many people were paying attention from afar.
Viewers pay tribute across his channels
Under the name Hlun Solo, Bowornthat documented backpacking trips around the world while offering practical advice on affordable travel. His work attracted 2.5 million Facebook followers and just over 1 million YouTube subscribers.
His final video has been viewed more than 2.2 million times. It now carries over 11,000 comments, many from viewers leaving condolences and sharing memories of his videos.
For followers, his appeal came from making international travel seem possible without a large budget or elaborate production. His videos focused on the practical realities of moving through unfamiliar countries alone, from planning routes to keeping costs low.
From Kalasin to a global travel audience
Bowornthat grew up in Kalasin, Thailand, and was raised by his grandmother after his father died. After completing high school, he took a factory job before receiving a scholarship to Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok.
He graduated with a degree in political science and later moved into content creation full-time. Rather than presenting travel as a luxury, he built his channels around solo backpacking and budget advice, recording trips across multiple countries for viewers who might otherwise consider that kind of journey out of reach.
That background became part of what audiences connected with: a creator who had taken an unlikely route from factory work to university and then to a career traveling the world. His death leaves his family awaiting answers as Georgian authorities continue investigating what happened in Tbilisi.
