Clip shows Thai shop hit by rocket strike, not 'Cambodian military positions'

Published on August 4, 2025 at 05:35
3 min read
By Chayanit ITTHIPONGMAETEE, AFP Thailand

Footage of a building on fire and shrouded in smoke shows the aftermath of a rocket strike in Thailand's Sisaket province, contrary to posts claiming it shows "Cambodia military positions" destroyed by Thai forces during the Southeast Asian neighbours' bloodiest military clashes in more than a decade. AFP journalists confirmed the video shows a convenience store attached to a petrol station in the northeastern Thai province, close to the border with Cambodia.

"At least two Cambodian military positions were destroyed including Brigade HQ in airstrikes by Royal Thai Airforce," reads the English-language caption of a Facebook reel shared on July 24, 2025.

The video shows a single-storey building covered in dark smoke.

It emerged as Cambodia fired rockets and artillery shells into Thailand and the Thai military scrambled F-16 jets to carry out air strikes in a dramatic escalation in a long-standing dispute over contested ancient temples situated along their 800-kilometre (500-mile) border (archived link).

Both sides blamed the other for starting the fighting, which erupted near two temples on the border.

The countries agreed a truce starting July 29, following five days of intense clashes that killed at least 43 people and displaced more than 300,000 (archived link).

Screenshot of the false Facebook post taken on August 1, 2025, with a red X added by AFP

The same clip was also shared in similar Facebook and X posts.

But it does not show the result of a Thai military strike in Cambodia.

Petrol station attack

A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the falsely shared clip led to the same footage posted on the Facebook page of Thailand's Second Army Region on the same day (archived link).

Its Thai-language caption reads: "BM-21 rockets from the Cambodian side hit a PTT gas station in Ban Phue, Kantharalak district, Sisaket province. Many students and civilians were injured."

Screenshot comparison between the false Facebook post (L) and the Facebook post by Thailand's Second Army Region

A similar clip was posted on Facebook by Chatchak Ratsamikaeo, a 25-year-old farmer in Sisaket province (archived link).

"I was just about to turn my car into the station when the 7-Eleven was hit," Ratsamikaeo said. "I was terrified -- my hands and feet went numb."

Google Street View imagery of the convenience store attached to the petrol station matches the falsely shared video (archived link).

Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared video (left) and Google Street View imagery (right), with corresponding features highlighted by AFP

Moreover, AFP journalists who visited the site on July 25 confirmed it shows the PTT petrol station, located 12 kilometres from the Cambodian border (archived link).

Images taken by AFP photographer Lillian Suwanrumpha on July 25 show the damage caused to the store.

Damage from a fire caused by Cambodian artillery at a 7-11 convenience store is seen at a PTT gas station in the Thai border province of Sisaket province on July 25, 2025. (AFP / Lillian SUWANRUMPHA)

According to a report by Thai newspaper The Nation, eight people were killed in the rocket strike (archived link).

AFP has debunked other misinformation about the Thailand-Cambodia conflict.

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