False 'bank run' claims surface as Thai govt unveils stimulus programme details

"People are afraid that money will be given away, so they line up to withdraw money," read a Thai-language Facebook post on April 10, 2024.

The post -- shared more than 250 times -- was accompanied by a picture of a long line in front of a BAAC branch in Chiang Mai's Doi Lo subdistrict.

"Massive bank withdrawals," read the picture's Thai text overlay.

A Facebook post published on the same day -- shared more than 320 times -- made a similar false claim and featured another picture of people queueing at the bank's branch in Lampang's Sobprab subdistrict.

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Screenshots of the false Facebook posts, taken April 15, 2024

The posts surfaced after Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin unveiled details of a $14 billion stimulus programme that included cash handouts to boost the Thai economy badly dented by the Covid-19 pandemic.

A so-called digital wallet scheme under the programme amounting to 172.3 billion baht ($4.6 million) would be financed from the budget of the state-run BAAC.

It would see around 50 million Thais receive 10,000 baht ($275) reportedly from the last quarter of 2024.

When asked by a reporter about the bank run claims on April 13, Thavisin said, "It's untrue" (archived link).

Similar posts baselessly alleging the government's announcement spooked BAAC depositors into making massive cash withdrawals were also shared on Facebook, YouTube and TikTok.

Comments on the posts indicated some people believed the claim.

"Who would be stupid to deposit money with this bank? We can see this as an example now. It's better to withdraw," one Facebook user wrote.

"Let's withdraw all of it because when the scheme happens, all money will be gone," another said.

In response to the false posts, Julapun Amornvivat, Thailand's Deputy Minister of Finance, told AFP on April 18: "No such events happened."

Misused pictures

Using reverse image searches on Google, AFP found the pictures shared in the posts were old.

The first picture was published in an article by Thai news website Manager Online on December 13, 2016 about a government handout programme for unemployed and low-income individuals (archived link).

Below is a screenshot comparison between the picture falsely shared online (left) and the article published by Manager Online in 2016 (right):

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A screenshot comparison of the photo in the false posts (left) and the same photo published by Manager Online in 2016 (right)

The second picture was previously featured in an article from the same outlet on May 22, 2020 (archived link).

The article said it showed people lining up for a cash relief programme for farmers' households affected by drought and the pandemic on the same day.

Below is a screenshot comparison between the misused picture (left) and the photo published in the 2020 article (right):

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Screenshot comparison of the photo in the false post (left) and the news article published by Manager Online in May 2020 (right)

Representatives from the two BAAC branches in Chiang Mai and Lampang shown in the old pictures told AFP they observed no massive withdrawals following the government's announcement.

False reports

Local police separately told AFP on April 17: "We didn't receive any reports about the (alleged) bank runs."

BAAC separately addressed the claim in a statement published on April 11 on its official Facebook page (archived link).

The bank said: "BAAC continues to maintain liquidity and financial stability in line with the standards expected of financial institutions."