Old photos of Andy Lau in Thailand resurface online with misleading claims

Lau's photos were shared on Facebook on April 16, 2023 with the caption: "Andy Lau is Thai people's Hong Kong heartthrob. Currently, he is filming a movie in Thailand and he just participated in the Songkran festival with Thai people as well."

During Songkran, the Thai New Year celebrated on April 13 through April 15 every year, water is poured onto people's hands to give them blessings in the coming year.

Lau, a popular Hong Kong actor, gained popularity among Thai fans for his leading roles in movies like "A Moment of Romance," "Full Throttle" and "The Great Wall".

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Screenshot of the misleading Facebook post, taken on April 25, 2023.

Lau's photos resurfaced after an account called "andylauox" posted them on Instragram on April 14, 2023 with the caption: "Let's soak in the joy of Songkran and splash away our worries with laughter and love! Happy Thai New Year everyone."

Lau's only designated official account on Instagram is called "andyworldclubofficial," his company said in a statement issued on December 16, 2022 (archived link).

However, the Instagram by "andylauox" was picked up times by Thai social media users here,here and here; and media organisations such as the English-language news publication The Nation and Thai news programme Hon Krasae.

Comments to the posts -- which have been shared hundreds of times -- indicate people thought Lau's photos were recent.

"Big brother Andy Lau is now in Thailand, people!" one commented.

"He looks so handsome and young as always!" said another.

But the photos are old and had been previously posted on April 14, 2016 on a Facebook page called Andy Lau's Fanpage (archived link).

"Andy Lau was filming a commercial in Thailand yesterday, which coincides the Thai New Year. So jealous of the film crew," reads the Thai-language post.

Below is a screenshot of the Facebook post:

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Screenshot of the images from the 2016 Facebook post, captured on April 25, 2023.

A full video of the commercial starring Lau was released one month later by tea company named Tao Ti (archived link).

Behind-the-scenes footage from the commercial's filming also shows the same Thai crew as in the photos that have been misleadingly shared as recent (archived link).

AFP has highlighted the same individuals seen in the old footage (left) and in one of the photos (right) below:

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Screenshot comparison between behind-the-scenes footage (left) and one photo shared in misleading posts (right). AFP highlighted the same individuals.

Somchai Homsakul, who was working as a stand-in for Lau during the commercial and is seen in the footage wearing a green shirt, told AFP: "Those are old photos from years ago from when we were shooting a commercial at Lam Takong Dam in Nakhon Ratchasima province."

"I remember that day clearly. It was during the Songkran holidays and the weather was so hot. We just wrapped up the filming at around the sunset time, 6pm, and the crew prepared a water bowl for Lau to celebrate Songkran with us," he added.

Somchai also sent AFP his photo with Lau during the commercial's filming, shown below:

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Somchai Homsakul poses for a photo with Andy Lau during a commercial filming in Thailand in 2016.

Keyword searches found no reports Lau was in Thailand during Songkran in 2023.

Photos taken by an AFP reporter here and here show Lau attended the Hong Kong Film Awards in Hong Kong on April 16, 2023 (archived links here and here).