Old photos of floating house in Malaysia wrongly linked to floods in Thailand

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<span>Screenshot of the fake Facebook post, taken on August 27, 2024</span>” data-src=”https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/xvb3tnLhGxQtf5kEP842tg–/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTEyNTA-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/afp_factcheck_us_713/4f69dfdb72 0dbad7381eeda49ddc506c”/></p>
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Screenshot of the fake Facebook post, taken on August 27, 2024

In similar Facebook posts, the photos were linked to the floods in northern Thailand here, here And here.

However, the house in the photo was actually built in Malaysia.

Flood Proof House in Malaysia

In reverse search on Google, the first photo was found published in a December 2022 report by Malaysia’s national news agency Bernama (archived link).

The headline of the article in Malay read: “‘My house, my raft’ saved Pokwe’s family from floods”.

Former truck driver A. Bakar Che Ahmad, 67, better known as Pokwe, said he built the flood-resistant house in Kampung Tebak Batu 16 in West Malaysia using “69 plastic barrels and 54 pieces of fascia”.

He was reportedly inspired by his floating chicken coop, which saved his pets from being swept away by floods in 2019.

The second photo was published in a similar October 2022 report by Malaysian newspaper Utusan Malaysia, which showed several photos of the house (archived link).

Below are screenshots of the photos shared in fake Facebook posts (left) and in news reports about the house in Malaysia (right):

<span>Screenshot comparisons of the photos shared in fake Facebook posts (left) and in news reports about the house in Malaysia (right)</span>” data-src=”https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/eJbgFZ1oLmEpiH5M2ygM6w–/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTY5Nw–/https://media.zenfs.com/en/afp_factcheck_us_713/e66cb6512 fff6c4f5732343023519b89″/><span><knop klasse=

Screenshot comparisons of the photos shared in fake Facebook posts (left) and in news reports about the house in Malaysia (right)

Google keyword searches yielded a TikTok video posted on December 24, 2022, showing several photos of the construction of the house (archived link).

The person who uploaded the clip told AFP the video showed his father’s floating home in Malaysia.

The property is not visible on Google Street View as the most recent images of the area in West Malaysia were taken in 2015, before the house was built.

But other Street View elements from the area are also visible in the TikTok video, such as a cell tower behind trees that is visible at 1:56 in the video.

Below is a screenshot of a Google Maps image of the area (left) and a TikTok video (right), with AFP highlighting similar elements:

<span>Screenshot comparison between a 2015 Google Maps image (left) and the TikTok video (right), with similar elements flagged by AFP</span>” data-src=”https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/KpxefyjZW9O26N0ZrCacug–/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTQ1OQ–/https://media.zenfs.com/en/afp_factcheck_us_713/17958dbf0154 55df0802c41ead9b2dff”/><span><knop klasse=

Screenshot comparison between a 2015 Google Maps image (left) and the TikTok video (right), showing similar elements highlighted by AFP

A Malaysian flag can also be seen flying on the flagpole, indicating that the footage was shot in Malaysia.



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