Travel YouTuber Hlun Solo found dead three weeks after posting 'heartbreaking' final video
There's more tragic news from the travel community, with YouTube creator Hlun Solo's family confirming the worst two weeks after he was reported missing.
Legal name Bowornthat Pengsuk, the 27-year-old travel content creator's family lost contact with him when he was traveling alone through Georgia. They'd been unable to get in touch with him since July 13, leading to an outpouring of support on social media and local authorities vowing to retrace the YouTuber's steps.
Jaithai Upakaranitikaset, director-general of the Department of Information and Ministry spokesperson, confirmed that officials from the Royal Thai Embassy in the Turkish city of Ankara met with Georgian authorities and were informed of his passing.
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A joint operation between Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the embassy in Ankara, and local Georgian officials will manage the repatriation of Pengsuk's body, although the circumstances surrounding his disappearance and eventual death remain unclear.
In an especially heartbreaking turn, Plengsuk's 82-year-old grandma said the family had held onto hope that he would return from his solo travel trips as he'd done many times before.
Hlun Solo's brother, who uses Facebook under the name of Klose Mos, announced his death at 1.35 am Thailand time. That post read: "The family has now received confirmation that my brother has been found, but unfortunately, he is no longer with us."
The family thanked those who'd shared appeals and kept up with developments while also offering support. They also thanked Thai agencies both locally and overseas, as well as all those involved in trying to find Pengsuk.
The general public was asked to respect the family's privacy at a time they're trying to work through the necessary arrangements, also imploring people not to speculate about his death or share information that hadn't been confirmed by official channels.
Hlun Solo's final video was uploaded to his channel on July 18. Titled "This village has no electricity and no signal—how do they live?", he journeyed to a remote village in northern Thailand that's inhabited by the Karen (Pgaz K'Nyau) people.
Visiting the community as part of the Green Energy Green Network for THAIs project, it helps bring clean energy to remote areas with no electricity. The description added: "Today, Hlun will take you inside this community to discover how people live in an age when the world is connected almost every second—and how the light from clean energy is beginning to become part of everyday life in this remarkable village."
There was an immediate outpouring of emotion in Pengsuk's final video, with it already being viewed over 2.3 million times as his subscriber count has now crossed 1.02 million.
One comment read: "From now on, Hlun will travel a very far place... Thank you for bringing joy to the viewers. R.I.P. Hlun Solo 😢😢😢."
Before his death was confirmed, another added: "This long journey is probably Hlun's last. May Hlun travel peacefully. Everyone can still watch Hlun's old videos. Thank you for taking us on trips around the world and bringing smiles to everyone."
After his family's statement, a third concluded: "I'm so envious of Hlun. He got to travel the world on his own, meet so many different people, and see both beautiful and inaccessible countries. Hlun explored them all. I hope he gets to travel somewhere in another world. RIP. 🤍🤍🤍🕊️🕊️🕊️."
Our thoughts are with Bowornthat Pengsuk and his family at this time.