An aerial photo shows unused tourist buses parked on a lot near Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok on March 8, 2020. ( AFP / Mladen ANTONOV)

AFP photo shows buses parked due to Covid -- not Thai transport strike in 2021

This article is more than one year old.
Published on November 12, 2021 at 05:17
Updated on November 12, 2021 at 05:17
2 min read
By AFP Thailand

An image showing hundreds of buses parked on a lot has been shared in multiple Facebook posts about a transport strike in Thailand against rising fuel prices in November 2021. But the image has been shared in a misleading context; it is actually an AFP photo taken in March 2020, showing tourist buses left idle due to coronavirus restrictions. AFP found no reports of a bus strike taking place in the country in November but only strikes from truck operators.

The image was posted on Facebook on November 1, 2021. It has since been shared over 400 times.

Screenshot of the misleading Facebook post taken on November 10, 2021

The image's Thai-language caption translates as: "Round 1 start, cars have stopped running people!"

"Round 1" refers to the first phase of strikes against rising fuel prices staged by bus drivers across Thailand.

Local news outlet the Nation Thailand reported on November 1 that truck drivers halted 20 percent of operations nationwide with plans to expand stoppage if demands are not met.

The same image was also shared alongside a similar claim on Facebook here and here.

But the image has been shared in a misleading context. The image shows idle tourist buses due to pandemic restrictions imposed in Thailand in 2020.

The image was shot by an AFP journalist. It was published on AFP's photo archives here on March 8, 2020.

The image's captions reads: "An aerial photo shows unused tourist buses parked on a lot near Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok on March 8, 2020.

"Ranks of tourist buses idle under a burning sun while once-bustling theme parks lie empty -- from above, striking images reveal the hollowing out of Thai tourism due to fears of the new coronavirus."

Below is a screenshot of image on AFP's website:

Below is a screenshot comparison of the photo in the false posts (L) and the AFP photo (R):

Screenshot comparison of the photo from the misleading post (Left) and the photo on AFP's website (Right)

The photo was also published with the correct caption in March 2020 news reports about pandemic closures here and here.

AFP found no reports of a bus strike taking place in Thailand in November 2021, but only strikes from truck operators.

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