Months-old report about Bangkok building collapse falsely linked to Cambodia-Thailand conflict

Published on September 1, 2025 at 06:32
3 min read
By Chayanit ITTHIPONGMAETEE, AFP Thailand

A deadly border skirmish between Cambodia and Thailand killed more than 40 people in July, after which a video surfaced in Cambodian social media falsely claiming it showed a Thai woman "mourning six sons" presumably slain in the conflict. In fact, AFP found the footage predates the fighting by months and shows a woman whose family members and friends were trapped under the rubble when a Bangkok building collapsed after a March earthquake.

"This is the result of greed without justification! The final outcome is just like this! Her six sons all went missing and cannot be contacted -- heart‑breaking -- this is the voice of Thai mothers," reads a Khmer-language Facebook post published on August 6, 2025.

The 15‑second video shows a distraught Thai woman interviewed by reporters.

"I cannot contact any of the six of them, I pray that everyone is alive," she says, weeping. The clip is accompanied by a soft piano track.

Screenshot of the false Facebook post, taken on August 28, 2025, with a red X made by AFP

Similar claims were also shared by Cambodian users on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.

These posts surfaced after Cambodia and Thailand agreed to a truce on July 29, ending five days of border clashes that killed at least 43 people and discpaced more than 300,000 on both sides (archived here and here).

Despite the ceasefire, disinformation continued online with misleading visuals and emotionally fuelled falsehoods stoking fear and hatred between the neighbours (archived link).

However, the clip first circulated in March -- months before the deadly border fighting between Cambodia and Thailand erupted in July.

Bangkok building collapse

A Thai-language caption can be partially seen under the superimposed Khmer-language text, which reads "under building rubble". The logo of Thai broadcaster Amarin News can also be seen at the top-right corner of the video.

Screenshot of the falsely shared video with the original Thai-language text and Amarin TV logo highlighted by AFP

With these clues, a reverse image search using the video's keyframes found the original newsclip published on the TikTok and YouTube channels of Amarin TV on March 29, 2025 (archived here and here).

The report was published the day after a massive earthquake centered in Myanmar that also shook Thailand caused an under-construction skyscraper to collapse in Bangkok, killing 89 people (archived here and here).

The building being constructed to house the State Audit Office was the only structure to collapse in the Thai capital, raising serious concerns about safety standards and oversight.

The YouTube video's caption reads: "[Woman] cries over six lives -- husband, son, and friends trapped in the rubble -- hopeless at the sight of the collapsed building."

Screenshot comparison between the falsely shared video (left) and Amarin News' YouTube video (right)

Amarin News identified the woman in the clip as Naruemon Ponglek, whose husband, son, and four friends -- all electricians -- were working at the site and went missing (archived link).

AFP has previously debunked other misinformation related to the border conflict between Cambodia and Thailand.

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