Video shows Thai politician talking about his party, not 'Thai PM commenting on Indonesian election'

"Thai PM opens up about the candidate he supports in Indonesia's 2024 presidential election," reads Indonesian-language text superimposed on an Instagram video, posted on September 24, 2023. 

The video, which has been viewed more than 135,000 times, shows a man standing in front of journalists.

Indonesian-language subtitles on the video translate a journalist's question as: "Regarding Indonesia's 2024 elections, who are you supporting? Ganjar or Prabowo?"

The subtitles switch to Thai script when the man answers the question in Thai.

One of the comments on the post also claims the "Thai PM" was asked about the Indonesian presidential election and responded: "I don't have an answer to that question, not because we belong to different countries, but because I have another preference. You asked to choose between Ganjar and Prabowo, I myself prefer a smart figure like Anies Baswedan'."

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Screenshot of the false Instagram video, captured on October 6, 2023

Indonesia's upcoming presidential election is scheduled for February 14, 2024, and three candidates have declared their candidacies: former Central Java governor Ganjar Pranowo, Indonesian Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto, and former Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan (archived link).

The video racked up a further 860,000 views after it appeared in similar posts on Facebook here and here, and on TikTok here, here and here.

But the man in the video is not Thailand's prime minister, and he was not speaking about the Indonesian presidential election.

Former party leader

The man speaking in the falsely shared video is Pita Limjaroenrat, a 43-year-old Thai politician and businessman who led the Move Forward Party (MFP) during the country's 2023 parliamentary elections.

The party won the most votes in the  polls, but Pita's bid to become prime minister was blocked by the country's military and pro-royalist establishment.

Instead, former property mogul Srettha Thavisin, 61, was elected as the country's new prime minister on August 22, 2023, ending months of political deadlock.

A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the false video found that it was taken from a livestreamed on YouTube here by Thai broadcaster Voice TV on September 15, 2023 (archived link).

The Thai-language title of the video reads: "Pita Limjaroenrat gives an interview to reporters after announcing his resignation as leader of the Move Forward Party."

AFP also reported on Pita's resignation from the party on the same day.

The start of the falsely shared video matches footage from the 23-second mark of the Voice TV video, showing Pita walking up stairs. 

The next segment of the false video, which shows him answering a question from a journalist, matches a portion of the Voice TV video that begins at its 5:17 mark.

Below are screenshot comparisons between the false video (left) and the video from Voice TV (right):

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Screenshot comparisons between the false video (left) and the video from Voice TV (right)

The Thai-language question asked to Pita in the Voice TV video is barely audible, but the words "selection process" can be heard.

Pita's response is clear, however, and he can be heard saying: "It depends on the party's meeting and the members get to decide who would be the next leader of the Move Forward Party.

"And another factor is the individuals -- both the person who proposed a name and the person who was nominated whether they are willing to accept to become the party's leader."

Pita's reply in the false video is cut off after he says, "the individuals".

Moreover, Thai text that appears in the false video includes words that have no connection to what Pita said, such as "Srettha's victory", "that proposes" and "very". 

AFP has previously debunked false claims that the Thai police commented on post-election violence in Jakarta in 2019.