Old video of Cambodian homes gutted by fire falsely linked to border clashes

Published on July 31, 2025 at 11:23
3 min read
By Alysha BIBI, AFP Hong Kong

A video of burned-out buildings was filmed after a fire gutted several homes in a Cambodian village in March 2023, contrary to posts claiming it showed the impact of Thai attacks during deadly border clashes between the Southeast Asian neighbours in July 2025. Similar visuals were shared at the time in social media posts and local reports about the fire in Cambodia's central Kampong Chhnang province.

"Justice for Cambodia #ThailandStartedTheWar," reads the caption of a TikTok video shared on July 25, 2025.

Khmer-language text superimposed on the clip says, "At noon I will shoot back for the people".

The video, which was viewed more than 27,000 times, shows several buildings that appear to have been damaged by fire and people picking through the rubble.

It surfaced a day after a long-standing dispute over contested border temples boiled over into open combat on Thailand and Cambodia's 800-kilometre (500-mile) boundary (archived link).

Both sides blamed each other for firing first, while Thailand accused Cambodia of targeting civilian infrastructure, including a hospital hit by shells and a petrol station hit by at least one rocket (archived link).

The two countries signed a truce on July 29, after five days of strikes that killed at least 43 people on both sides.

Screenshot of the false TikTok post captured on July 31, 2025, with a red X added by AFP

The video was also shared in similar posts on Facebook and YouTube.

But the clip does not show the aftermath of a Thai attack on Cambodia.

Kampong Chhnang fire

A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the falsely shared clip led to the same video shared on Facebook on July 10, two weeks before the latest border clashes (archived link).

Even though the Khmer-language post makes no mention of it, most comments on the post link the clip to the Cambodia-Thailand conflict.

Several users, however, said it shows the aftermath of a fire that occurred in the Kampong Chhnang province in 2023.

Subsequent keyword searches led to more posts and a report by local media outlet Khmernote that contains similar photos about the fire that broke out on March 12, 2023 (archived here and here).

The Khmernote report links to a verified Cambodian national police Facebook page showing more photos of the damage caused by the fire (archived link).

Screenshot comparison of the false post video (left), the photo from Cambodian police (top right) and a social media video about the fire (bottom right), with matching elements marked by AFP

AFP has also debunked other false claims linked to Cambodia-Thailand conflict.

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