Old photo shows South Korean football fans, not Thai political rally
- Published on January 30, 2026 at 09:18
- 2 min read
- By Chayanit ITTHIPONGMAETEE, AFP Thailand
As campaigning kicked into full swing in Thailand ahead of a February 8 general election, an image of a huge crowd dressed in red was shared in posts falsely claiming it showed a rally of supporters of the populist Pheu Thai party. The image is in fact more than two decades old and shows South Korean football fans during the 2002 World Cup jointly hosted by the country and Japan.
"Nakhon Ratchasima is buzzing again! People believe Pheu Thai can do it and will achieve a landslide victory with 70 million votes," reads the Thai-language caption of a Facebook photo shared on January 27, 2026.
The image shows a vast crowd adorned in red gathered in an outdoor square surrounded by high-rise buildings.
It circulated a day after supporters of the populist Pheu Thai party, which is associated with the colour red, rallied in the northeastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima ahead of a general election slated for February 8 (archived here and here).
The supporters were there to support Yodchanan Wongsawat, the party's first-listed candidate for prime minister (archived link).
The photo was also shared in other Facebook posts alongside similar claims.
"I hope Pheu Thai wins in every district for the prosperity of the country," read a comment on one of the posts.
Another said: "Wow, so Nakhon Ratchasima is the capital of the Red Shirts now, huh?"
But the photo does not show the Pheu Thai rally in Nakhon Ratchasima.
South Korean football fans
A reverse image search on Google found the photo was published by South Korean news website News Daily on May 8, 2017 (archived link).
The caption says it shows football fans gathering in front of Seoul City Hall before a match at the 2002 World Cup, which was jointly hosted by South Korea and Japan from May 31 to June 30, 2002.
A yellow banner hung on the building reads, "Seoul welcomes the world".
The location matches Google Street View imagery of Seoul Plaza, in front of Seoul City Hall (archived link).
Subsequent searches found the image had also been published by stock photography website Alamy (archived link).
Its caption says it shows South Korean supporters gathered on June 18, 2002 to watch their country's match against Italy on a huge screen.
Photos published by AFP from the same location similarly show the South Korean supporters, who are known as the "Red Devils".
AFP has debunked other misinformation related to polls in Thailand, and has an open-access online course which helps journalists to combat election misinformation.
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