This billboard calling for Buddha statues and images to be treated with respect, were installed in Bangkok Thailand, not Australia

This article is more than one year old.
Published on September 30, 2019 at 07:30
2 min read
By AFP Sri Lanka

A photo of a billboard calling for respect for Buddha’s image has been shared tens of thousands of times in multiple Facebook posts which claim it was taken on a road in Melbourne, Australia. The claim is false; the photo actually shows a billboard in Bangkok, Thailand.

The image was published in this Sinhala-language Facebook post on April 29, 2018, where it has been shared more than 54,000 times.

Below is a screenshot of the misleading Facebook post:

Screenshot of the Facebook post.

The billboard’s English text states: “Buddha is not for decoration, respect is common sense. It’s wrong to use Buddha as tattoo and decoration. Disrespect Buddha is wrong by law.”

The Sinhala-language text at the top and bottom of the image translates to English as: “This is a billboard installed in an expressway in Australia’s Melbourne. Even the residents in that country now accept that Buddha’s image must be respected. Share for everyone to see”.

The post’s Sinhala-language caption translates to English as: “The entire world knows, we don't”.

The same photo has been shared here and here on Facebook alongside a similar claim.

But the photo is being shared in a misleading context; it actually shows a billboard in Bangkok, Thailand.

A closer examination of the billboard found it displays the text; ‘KnowingBuddha.org’ and ‘Plan B’, as highlighted in yellow in the screenshot below by AFP.

A closer examination of the billboard found it displays the text; ‘KnowingBuddha.org’ and ‘Plan B’ as highlighted in yellow.

KnowingBuddha.org is a Bangkok based non-profit with a mission to protect Buddha’s images and symbols from disrespectful acts.

Pattadon Sangduen, Knowing Buddha’s Deputy Director told AFP in an email on September 26, 2019 that the billboard was installed by KBO.

"This billboard is put by the Knowing Buddha organisation," Pattadon wrote in his email to AFP.

He said it was one of the first billboards installed by KBO along the Rama 9 expressway -- on the way in and out of Bangkok towards Swarnabhumi airport -- in February 2014.

He also said the billboards had been put up in other parts of Thailand, including Phuket, Chiang Mai and Hadyai, but had not been deployed anywhere else in the world.

Plan B is a media solutions company based in Bangkok, Thailand.

Travellers to Thailand have published similar images of the billboard on travel forums since 2018.

A reverse image on Google found this Reddit thread where a similar image had been posted by a user with the question “I drove past this billboard in bangkok. How do Buddhists feel about the omnipresent Buddha statues?”

Below is a screenshot of the Reddit post:

Screenshot of the Reddit post.

Another reverse image search found this blog entry about the billboards.

The blog post’s author noted the billboards were on display near Swarnabhumi airport.

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