Clip of strong winds in Vietnam falsely shared by Thai users to taunt Cambodia

Published on September 8, 2025 at 12:02
3 min read
By Chayanit ITTHIPONGMAETEE, Lam NGUYEN, AFP Thailand

After major storms caused flooding in parts of Southeast Asia, a video of people battling strong winds surfaced in Thai social media posts falsely claiming it was shot in Cambodia. However, the clip in fact shows the impact of a storm in Vietnam's capital Hanoi in July 2025.

The six-second clip was shared on TikTok on August 30, 2025 with Thai-language sticker text reading: "Storm hit Cambodia. Cambodians mocked Thai people, now they got hit back."

The video has been viewed more than 507,000 times and shows roadside vendors trying to stop their stalls from being blown away by strong winds.

Screenshot of the false TikTok post, taken on September 4, 2025, with a red X added by AFP

Other similar posts surfaced on elsewhere on TikTok, Facebook and YouTube in what appears to be part of a continuing social media battle between Thai and Cambodian social media users after the two countries engaged in a five-day border clash in July (archived link).

"[Cambodians] always cursed Thailand. Now the karma goes back to them. They deserve this," a user wrote in response to one of the Facebook posts.

Another said: "It's their karma for being ungrateful to Thailand. Don't let them to come to Thai hospitals."

The claim appeared as Typhoon Kajiki swept through Thailand after making landfall in Vietnam in late August, causing flooding and landslides that killed five people and injured 15 others (archived link).

Another storm called Nongfa subsequently flooded Cambodia's Siem Reap city, local media reported (archived link).

However, the circulating clip shows an earlier storm in Hanoi, Vietnam.

A reverse image search using keyframes from the video led to a TikTok post on July 20, 2025, with a Vietnamese-language caption reading: "The thunderstorm in Hanoi is terrible" (archived link).

The circulating false clip, which has been mirrored, corresponds to the first six seconds of the TikTok video.

Vietnamese media reported about a sudden thunderstorm on July 19 that disrupted traffic in Hanoi and other northern provinces (archived link). On the same day, a tourist boat in Ha Long Bay capsized, killing at least 35 people (archived link).

The video contains other visual clues indicating it was filmed in Vietnam, including a turquoise-coloured car, part of the electric taxi fleet belonging to Vietnamese ride-sharing company Xanh SM (archived link).

Screenshot of the viral video, with an element made by AFP to highlight the electric taxi run by Xanh SM

Shop signs in Vietnamese can also be seen in the background, such as ones reading "Thit", Vietnamese for "meat", and "Chim Canh", meaning ornamental birds.

A store called "Shop Boy" can also be seen in Google Maps Street View imagery of a section of Pho Nhon Road in Hanoi (archived link).

Screenshot comparison between the viral video (L) and the Google Maps street view imagery, with an element made by AFP to highlight the Shop Boy store

AFP has previously debunked other misinformation related to the Cambodia-Thailand conflict.

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