"Hohenlohe died on Tuesday. We've sent all the details to the Swiss Embassy," said an official at the prison, who asked to remain anonymous.

"He was here on charges of pos¬sessing false documents," the offi¬cial said without elaborating.

Christoph's brother, Hubertus von Hohenlohe, said Christoph had arrived in Thailand in midJuly on a transit visa but had over¬stayed by one day after missing a flight to Honolulu.

Hohenlohe, from Liechtenstein, apparently altered the date on his transit visa, leading to his arrest on July 29 at Bangkok International Airport and 10 days in jail before he succumbed to a disease.

Hubertus said his brother had been denied bail twice. An autop¬sy was underway to determine the nature of Hohenlohe's death.

"It's all a bit strange," said Hubertus, who arrived in Bangkok on Sunday to get his brother out of custody.

In an interview with Corriere Della Sera, an Italian newspaper, he said that their mother went to visit Christoph in jail last Saturday, and he was with 40 inmates in a small room without mattresses.

Hohenlohe, 49, is the son of German Princess Ira von Fuerstenberg, 66, a wellknown European socialite and the daugh¬ter of Prince Tassilo Egon Maria Karl George Leo of Fuerstenberg and Clara Agnelli, a Fiat heiress.

The Swiss Embassy in Bangkok acknowledged that the case was under investigation but refused to divulge details.

"It's a matter of privacy," said an embassy official, who added, "At this point we don't see this case escalating into a diplomatic issue."

DPA and the Nation