The Thai Embassy in Turkey has reiterated that it was never directly informed by the Georgian authorities of the death of Thai travel vlogger Hlun Solo, whose body was found in a hotel room in Tbilisi in mid-July.
In a statement posted on its official Facebook page today, the embassy said it dispatched officials to Tbilisi, where they arrived at 8.30pm on July 29 and immediately visited the police station handling the case. The Thai Embassy in Ankara has jurisdiction over Georgia.
Investigators told the Thai diplomats that they had emailed Georgia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on July 14, requesting that the ministry notify the Thai authorities of Hlun's death.
The diplomats told investigators that they had never received such notification before arriving in Georgia.
The statement was issued after many people questioned why the Georgian authorities had not notified the Thai side after Hlun's body was found in a hotel room on July 14.
News of Hlun's death emerged on July 29 after his family in Thailand appealed on social media for help in locating him, saying they had lost contact with him after their last communication on July 13.
Thai nationals living in Georgia joined the search, with some visiting the local police station, where they learned that Hlun had been found dead on July 14.
According to the embassy, Georgian police told the Thai nationals that they had already informed the Georgian Foreign Ministry and requested that it notify the Thai authorities of Hlun's death.
The statement added that, at 11am on July 30, embassy officials met representatives of Georgia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who formally handed over a notification of Hlun's death. The document was dated July 29 and was issued in Georgian, accompanied by an unofficial English translation.
The embassy also said it had asked the Georgian authorities to explain why the Foreign Ministry's formal notification was dated July 29, after the embassy had already contacted the ministry on July 28 to seek information following reports that Hlun had gone missing.
The embassy reiterated that it had carried out its consular duties with due diligence, based on reliable information provided by the authorities of the receiving state and in accordance with international law.
It also stressed that it had respected the privacy rights of the deceased and his family throughout the process.
