The misleading posts use a Wikipedia stock image -- the Thai military and the politician both said the claim was false

  • This article is more than one year old.
  • Published on December 17, 2019 at 10:30
  • 2 min read
  • By AFP Thailand

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An image has been shared hundreds of times in Twitter and Facebook posts that claim that the military conscription documents for the leader of Thai opposition party Future Forward were “faked”. The claim is false; the image of the politician's purported documents is actually a stock image previously used on Wikipedia; the Future Forward leader denied the claim on Twitter; the Royal Thai Army said the Future Forward leader had taken all the “necessary steps” to complete his military service in 2001.

The composite image was published on Twitter here on December 9, 2019.

It shows Thai politician Thanathorn Juanroongruangkit alongside an image of a document.

Below is a screenshot of the misleading post:

misleadingpostthanathorn

The post’s Thai-language caption translates to English as: “Caught red handed! Thanathorn faked document!! Try checking whether the documents submitted to the Passport Division by this Chinese boy can be verified”.

The post’s caption also included various unrelated hashtags in English and Thai including: “#MissUniverse2019, #thegroom'sbrotherishandsome #FaisaiiscompetinginMissUniverse #HeartMadeGiftDayWithOffGun, #SaveNinkBNK48, #FakeSD9Document

The post has been retweeted more than 300 times.

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

The claim is false. 

On the same day the misleading posts were published, Thanathorn refuted the allegation that his military service documents were fake in this tweet on his official Twitter account.

His Thai-language tweet translates to English in part as: “Not fake. I underwent military conscription myself. All submitted documents are genuine. Enough with these fake news.”

The image of a purported Thai military service document in the misleading posts corresponds with a document published on October 24, 2008 on this Wikipedia page about military conscription in Thailand.

Below is a screenshot of the Wikipedia page with the document highlighted in red by AFP:

wikimilitarydocscreen

Below is a screenshot comparison of the image in the misleading posts (L) and the image on the Wikipedia page (R), with the similarities highlighted in red by AFP:

document-comparison

The document displays the name of Visarut Petchkum, who is listed as living in Sakolnakorn Province. It does not include Thanathorn’s name.

The Royal Thai Army released a statement on December 10, 2019 stating the claim on social media about Thanathorn’s military service was “fake news”.

This report published by Thai broadcaster Thai PBS on December 10 includes the Thai Army’s announcement.

The army’s announcement states: “Related army officials had confirmed that Thanathorn proceeded with the necessary steps required in military conscription at Pawes district back in April 2001.

“The claims made on social media are to be considered as fake news.”

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