This photo has circulated online since at least 2012 in reports about a US-made tank
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on September 10, 2020 at 11:00
- 2 min read
- By AFP Thailand
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The photo was published here on Facebook on September 7, 2020. It has been shared more than 1,600 times.
The post’s Thai caption translates to English as: “Photo from two days ago, parked inside the temple. They are preparing for war with our children.”
The same photo was also published here on Facebook and here on Twitter, alongside a similar claim.
The claim, however, is misleading.
A reverse image search on Google found a larger version of the photo published here on the website of Thailand’s Defence Technology Institute, a research facility run by the Thai Ministry of Defence, on June 11, 2012.
The report is headlined: “Light military tank: M41A3” and reads, in part: “The M41 or Walker Bulldog light tank, is a combat vehicle. It is used to fire 76 mm cannons. Its production started in 1950 by the Cadillac Gage Company in the United States.
“The M41 light tank has been in service in the Royal Thai Army since 1962, procured and supported by the United States during the Cold War. It is a small tank with maneuverability suitable for the terrain in Southeast Asia.”
Below is a screenshot comparison between the photo in the misleading post (L) and the Defence Technology Institute photo (R):
The same photo was also published by local media here in 2017, here in 2018, and more recently here in 2020, in reports about the same tank model.
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