Image of armed police accompanying flood aid in southern Thailand is AI-generated

"Border patrol police entering Zone 8 in Hat Yai this morning. Photo: 437th Border Patrol Police, Sadao district," reads the Thai-language caption of a Facebook image shared on November 27, 2025.

The image -- which has been shared more than 12,000 times before it was taken down -- shows armed police officers on a boat carrying what appear to be food and supplies.  

It circulated as severe flooding in southern Thailand displaced tens of thousands of people and left at least 145 dead, the government spokesperson said (archived here and here).

Rescue efforts in Hat Yai, one of the worst-hit areas, were hindered after gunfire was reported near flooded neighbourhoods (archived link). Rescuers using jet skis to reach stranded residents said they were forced to suspend operations out of safety concerns.

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Screenshot of the false Facebook post captured on November 27, 2025, with a red X added by AFP

The same image was also shared in similar Facebook, TikTok and X posts.

"The first place in the world where flood relief officials must be armed," read a comment on one of the posts.

Another said: "That zone should be peaceful today."

The image, however, is AI-generated. 

A closer examination of the image shows there is a watermark for one of Google's AI tools, Gemini, in the bottom-right corner.

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Screenshot of the falsely shared image, with its Gemini watermark highlighted in red by AFP

Google's SynthID Detector, a tool launched in May 2025 to identify AI-generated content, also recognised with a "High" degree of confidence that the image was created with the help of its AI tools (archived link).

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Screenshot of the SynthID Detector's results, showing it had "High" confidence the image was created with the help of Google's AI tools

According to a November 27 post Facebook page appearing to belong to the 437th Border Patrol Police Unit, the image was created with the help of AI (archived link). It also shared an unedited photo of unarmed officers in orange life jackets (archived link).

"This is a real image before it was made into an AI image, where the Border Patrol Police came to help flood victims. We apologise for causing a misunderstanding," reads the post.

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Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared image (left) and the photo posted by the police unit (right)

No one has been punished over the incident, the border police told AFP on November 28.

"We generated the photo just to show the public our readiness to enter the area," an officer at the unit told AFP, declining to give his name.

None of its personnel working on flood relief carried firearms, he added.

AFP previously debunked other AI-generated images that circulated in Thailand in the wake of the deadly flooding.