Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Video of music festival falsely shared as 'Israelis celebrating' in northern Thailand

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As concerns grow over increasing numbers of Israeli tourists flocking to a tourist town in northern Thailand, a video of an annual music festival has gained hundreds of thousands of views alongside false claims it shows a Jewish celebration in Pai district. The organiser of the festival, which is in fact held in neighbouring Chiang Mai province, said it has no connection to religious activities.

"Here is Pai district, land of the Jewish gods," reads the Thai-language caption on a Facebook reel of a group of mostly-white people dancing shared on February 18. The post racked up 600,000 views before it was deleted.

Thai sticker text on the clip reads: "What are they celebrating? Jews in Pai district. The government must provide answers."

Pai is a small district in the northern Mae Hong Son province, a popular tourist spot known for its cultural and natural attractions (archived link).

Screenshot of the false post, taken on February 19, 2025

Anti-Israeli sentiment in Thailand has grown, particularly after a string of incidents involving unruly Israeli tourists in the country's north in February (archived link).

The Southeast Asian country deported four Israeli tourists who allegedly broke into and vandalised a hospital in Pai, while two more were arrested for working without permits as musicians in a restaurant in the same district.

AFP has debunked another false claim about a purported Israeli settlement in Pai.

The video of people dancing also appeared on Instagram and X, but it in fact shows an annual music festival in a neighbouring province. 

Not Jewish celebrations

Reverse image and keyword searches on Google and Facebook led to a similar video taken from a different angle, published on Facebook on February 15 and captioned "Day 9th Drum Circle" (archived link).

The post includes a location tag at "Shambhala In Your Heart Festival, Chiang Dao", a district in Chiang Mai province more than 50 kilometres (30 miles) away from Pai.

The Facebook user sent AFP the original video file, which confirmed it was shot on February 15, the ninth day of the music festival held from February 7 to 16 (archived link).

Elements in the circulating video also correspond to those seen in the Facebook video of the festival:

Screenshot comparisons of the falsely shared video (left) and the Facebook video (right), with corresponding elements highlighted by AFP

Similar scenes from the music festival can also be seen in photos uploaded to Facebook here (archived link).

The organizers of the Shambhala In Your Heart festival told AFP: "Shambhala is a music festival and has nothing to do with any cults or religions." 

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