Anti-government protesters in Thailand had taken to the streets to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra earlier than her suspension on July 1, 2025 as she faces an ethics probe. However a broadly shared picture of a number of masked demonstrators within the capital Bangkok incorporates visible errors which can be telltale indicators of AI.
“I query if these protesters are Thai,” reads the Thai-language caption to the picture shared June 27, 2025 on Fb. “They could assault one another and blame it on the federal government.”
A textual content overlay says the masked people are “Sriwichai Warriors”, a gaggle related to the Yellow Shirt motion that has fiercely opposed the Shinawatra political household for the reason that 2000s.
Screenshot of the false submit taken June 30, 2025, with a purple X added by AFP
Comparable posts surfaced elsewhere on Fb and TikTok after protesters gathered in Thailand’s Authorities Home demanding Paetongtarn to step down (archived hyperlink).
The heiress of the highly effective Shinawatra dynasty is going through a court docket case filed by conservative lawmakers accusing her of breaching a requirement for “evident integrity” throughout a diplomatic name with Cambodia.
Thailand and Cambodia have lengthy been at loggerheads over a territorial dispute, which intensified right into a cross-border conflict in Might that left one in every of Phnom Penh’s troops lifeless.
When Paetongtarn referred to as Cambodian ex-leader Hun Sen to debate the row, she referred to as him “uncle” and referred to a Thai army commander as her “opponent”, sparking widespread backlash over her rhetoric.
Thailand’s Constitutional Court docket stated there was “adequate trigger to suspect” Paetongtarn might have breached ministerial ethics within the dialog, a recording of which was leaked in Cambodia. The tribunal suspended her pending a probe (archived hyperlink).
Nevertheless, an AFP evaluation of the circulating picture discovered visible flaws indicating that it was made utilizing AI.
The picture seems to indicate the boys standing in entrance of Bangkok’s Victory Monument with the capital’s skytrain tracks seen on the again.
However evaluating it with Google Maps avenue imagery of the particular location exhibits a number of constructions reminiscent of buildings and street floor markings which can be lacking within the picture (archived hyperlink).
Screenshot comparability of the picture (L) and Google Maps avenue view imagery of Victory Monument with inconsistencies highlighted by AFP
Othe visible errors embody lacking eyes and distorted faces, an individual’s thumb disappearing into their trousers, mismatched logos on a flag and a shirt, and odd shadows.
Such errors nonetheless happen regardless of the meteoric rise in generative AI, and are indicator of inauthenticity of visuals.
Screenshot of the picture with visible inconsistencies highlighted by AFP
A reverse search on Google discovered the earliest model of the picture shared in a June 25, 2025 Fb submit calling for a protest in opposition to the prime minister (archived hyperlink).
The AI detection software Hive Moderation discovered there was a 99.5 % likelihood the picture was generated utilizing AI.
Screenshot displaying Hive Moderation outcomes, taken July 2, 2025
AFP has fact-checked extra misinformation associated to the Thailand-Cambodia battle right here and right here.
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