Brazil concert photos falsely shared as Thailand election rally
- Published on February 4, 2026 at 10:40
- 3 min read
- By Chayanit ITTHIPONGMAETEE, AFP Thailand
As Thailand gears up for a general election scheduled on February 8, 2026, two pictures of massive crowds surfaced in posts that misrepresented them as showing supporters of the populist Pheu Thai Party. One of the photos depicts a Lady Gaga performance in Rio de Janeiro, while the other shows a different concert in another Brazilian city.
"Images of a Pheu Thai Party rally at Pattaya beach. Nearly one million people attended," reads a Thai-language Facebook post on February 1.
It features a collage of vast crowds gathered outdoors at night along a coastline. The post received more than 1,600 comments before it was deleted.
Similar claims circulated elsewhere on Facebook as major parties in Thailand held rallies in the lead-up to the vote.
Analysts told AFP the Pheu Thai party will probably come in third, and will form a coalition with incumbent Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul's Bhumjaithai party, which is expected to come in second place (archived link).
The reformist People's Party is leading opinion polls, particularly among younger voters, but most analysts doubt it will manage to form a government, even if it emerges with the most seats.
The party's victory in May 2023 -- when it was known as Move Forward -- came on a record turnout of 75 percent before it was dissolved (archived link).
Another version of the false claim said the pictures were from a Move Forward Party rally before the 2023 poll, and went on to predict the results this year to be no different.
However, the photos were not taken in Thailand.
Brazil concerts
Reverse image searches on Google found Brazilian journalist Renan Brites Peixoto shared the first picture on X on May 4, 2025, saying it shows a Lady Gaga performance that drew a record crowd (archived link).
The pop superstar performed a free mega-concert at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro on May 3, 2025, which city authorities said drew about two million fans (archived link).
The photo shows several of the same elements also seen in an AFP picture of the concert, including the stage placement, the surrounding buildings and lighting.
Further reverse image searches found Brazilian DJ Alok shared the second photo in an Instagram post about a New Year's concert on January 1, 2024 (archived link).
"Welcome 2024! Over 1 million people!! We did it again!" the caption reads, which goes on to identify the concert's location as Fortaleza, a city in northeastern Brazil.
Images on Google Maps of the area where the concert was held also show several elements seen in the false picture, including the beachfront layout and pier structure (archived link).
Google Maps Street View imagery also shows Pattaya Beach in Thailand is lined by short buildings, and not tall structures as seen in the circulating pictures (archived link).
Keyword searches did not find official media reports that Pheu Thai had held an election rally on the beach.
AFP has debunked more misinformation related to polls in Thailand, and has an online course on tackling election misinformation.
Copyright © AFP 2017-2026. Any commercial use of this content requires a subscription. Click here to find out more.
Is there content that you would like AFP to fact-check? Get in touch.
Contact us
