Restaurant photo shared with false claim as new Thai PM visits tourism hub

The photo was posted on August 26 on X, formerly known as Twitter, where it has been shared more than 1,700 times.

It appears to show a banner at a restaurant that reads: "Pleasant welcome to Pita Limjaroenrat, the 30th Prime Minister of Thailand." The eatery's name has been blurred out in the image.

"The banner folks from Phuket chose to welcome Srettha, the Prime Minister," reads the Thai-language caption.

Pita is the leader of the progressive Move Forward Party (MFP), which trounced army-backed parties that ruled Thailand for nearly a decade during elections in May -- including in traditionally conservative Phuket.

However, months of political deadlock ended with the country's parliament electing Srettha Thavsin of the Pheu Thai party as prime minister on August 22, after Pita was blocked due to the MFP's push to reform royal insult laws and take on powerful vested business interests.

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Screenshot of the misleading post on X, captured on August 28, 2023

The false post circulated as Srettha visited Phuket shortly after his appointment, where he pledged to boost tourism in the province.

The photo has also been shared with a similar false claim on Facebook here, here and here.

However, a reverse image search on Google found the picture had in fact been posted on X on July 11, more than a month before Srettha was named prime minister.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the photo shared in one of the false posts (left) and the one shared on X (right):

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Screenshot comparison of the photo shared in one of the false posts (left) and the one shared on X (right)

The restaurant's name -- Yang Neoy -- is visible on the top right hand side of the picture shared on X.

A further keyword search on Facebook found a similar photo published by the restaurant here on the same day.

Yang Neoy has several branches in Thailand, including in Phuket.

But the location shown in the picture corresponds to Google Street View imagery of the establishment in Samutprakan, a province near the Thai capital Bangkok.

According to a local media report, Pita and MPF members held a celebratory rally in Samutprakan on the evening of July 11.

Moreover, the provincial police in Phuket told AFP on August 28 they had not received any reports related to an anti-Srettha banner during his visit.

"There were no reports, everything was normal during Mr. Srettha's visit," said Police Lieutenant Jirwat Rattanapraphan.