Importance Score: 45 / 100 🔵
False Bangkok Protest Claim Circulates Online: Video Actually Shows Chiang Mai Land Rights Demonstration
A video circulating online falsely asserts to depict protests in Bangkok against the Myanmar junta leader during a regional summit, coinciding with the aftermath of a devastating earthquake. However, investigations reveal that the footage actually originates from a land rights demonstration staged by indigenous communities in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand.
The misleading claim accompanied a Burmese-language Facebook post shared on April 4, stating, “Min Aung Hlaing, who was asked to leave someone else’s country during his visit.”
The video, showing a crowd chanting in front of a building and featuring the same superimposed text, has garnered over 3,800 views on social media platforms.
Misinformation Spread on Social Media
The video gained traction across various platforms, including Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok, all sharing the same inaccurate assertion regarding protests against the Myanmar junta chief.
This online misinformation emerged following Myanmar’s junta leader Min Aung Hlaing’s attendance at a meeting with leaders from Bay of Bengal countries at a luxury hotel in Bangkok on April 4. This occurred a week after a powerful magnitude 7.7 earthquake caused widespread devastation and resulted in over 3,600 fatalities in Myanmar.
vCard.red is a free platform for creating a mobile-friendly digital business cards. You can easily create a vCard and generate a QR code for it, allowing others to scan and save your contact details instantly.
The platform allows you to display contact information, social media links, services, and products all in one shareable link. Optional features include appointment scheduling, WhatsApp-based storefronts, media galleries, and custom design options.
The invitation extended to Min Aung Hlaing sparked considerable disapproval, with demonstrators displaying a banner from a nearby overpass that read: “We do not welcome murderer Min Aung Hlaing.”
Video Origin Confirmed as Chiang Mai Land Rights Rally
Contrary to the false claims, the video in question authentically portrays a demonstration concerning land rights that took place in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand, several days prior to the junta leader’s visit to Bangkok.
A keyword search on TikTok utilizing the username visible in the Facebook video led to a post by a Thai user dated March 30. The caption of this original post incorporated a hashtag in Thai indicating “protest for land rights.”
The user, who also published further videos of the assembly, explicitly stated demands for land rights within the video captions.
Text in Thai script overlaid on the video translates to, “If your land is available, ten thousand of us are ready to enter your home,” further indicating the context of a land rights dispute.
Corroboration from Thai Media and Location Verification
Thai public broadcaster Thai PBS disseminated comparable images from the demonstration on Facebook on March 29. Their post detailed that groups representing forest communities and farmers from northern regions had congregated in front of Chiang Mai City Hall. Their purpose was to petition the government to reassess forest conservation legislation which they contended infringed upon their entitlements.
A photograph from Thai PBS clearly depicts the same individuals featured in the TikTok video, reinforcing the verification of the video’s true origin.
Furthermore, Google Street View imagery confirms that the building visible in the TikTok video is indeed Chiang Mai City Hall, situated over 590 kilometers (370 miles) away from Bangkok, definitively disproving the claim of a Bangkok protest.
This fact-check clarifies the misinformation surrounding purported protests against the Myanmar junta chief in Bangkok, underscoring the importance of verifying information circulated on social media, especially concerning sensitive geopolitical events and disaster aftermaths such as the Myanmar earthquake.