Old video of arrested Myanmar migrants misrepresented as Cambodians

Published on November 14, 2025 at 09:41
2 min read
By Pasika KHERNAMNUOY, AFP Thailand

A new ceasefire pact between Thailand and Cambodia co-signed by US President Donald Trump in October 2025 has not stopped feuding social media users from the Southeast Asian rivals from spreading misinformation about the other side. The latest includes old footage of Myanmar nationals arrested for crossing into Thailand illegally in 2022 shared in social media posts falsely claiming those detained were Cambodians.

"Latest. A sleeper ticket for smuggling into Thailand," reads a Thai-language Facebook post published on November 1, 2025.

Superimposed text reads, "Urgent! Cambodian workers smuggle themselves into Thailand via different routes" and "modified pickup truck carries immigrants into the country."

The video, which was shared more than 1,700 times, shows police removing the cargo bed of a pickup truck, revealing two people hiding inside.

Screenshot of the false post taken on November 6, 2025, with a red X added by AFP

Similar posts surfaced elsewhere on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok after Trump co-signed a new truce between Thailand and Cambodia during the first stop on his Asia tour in Malaysia on October 26 (archived link).

But Thailand paused implementation of the follow-on deal on November 10, claiming a blast from a newly laid landmine had wounded four of its soldiers (archived link).

Two days later, officials on both sides traded accusations of fresh clashes along their border, with Phnom Penh reporting one civilian shot dead.

AFP has debunked misinformation spread by Thai and Cambodian social media users about the other side since a long-running territory dispute erupted into five days of deadly border clashes between the two Southeast Asian rivals in July.

Myanmar migrants

A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the falsely shared clip combined with keyword searches on Facebook led to a video showing the same scene published on October 20, 2022 (archived link).

Text on the video reads: "Good idea!!" and "a modified pickup truck carries immigrants into the country."

The footage also appeared at the 13-second mark of a local media news report on YouTube, which said it shows an arrest on October 19, 2022 at a border checkpoint in Tak province (archived here and here).

Screenshot comparison of the false post (left), the 2022 Facebook video (middle) and the YouTube news clip (right)

Elements in the clip also match photos shared on October 20, 2022 by a military unit under the Royal Thai Army (archived link).

The officers detained two Myanmar nationals for unauthorised entry into Thailand at a road checkpoint near the Thai-Myanmar border (archived link). They were then sent to the provincial police station.

Screenshot of the Facebook post published by the Naresuan Taskforce on October 20, 2022

Pawor Police Station in Tak province, which shares a border with Myanmar, confirmed to AFP on November 7 that the video was filmed on October 19, 2022 by an officer as part of a migrant smuggling case.

Cofact -- a collaborative fact-checking platform -- also published a Thai-language report debunking the same claim.

AFP has fact-checked other misinformation related to the border clashes between Thailand and Cambodia.

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