As northern Thailand struggled with flooding caused by Typhoon Yagi in September 2024, a photo of King Maha Vajiralongkorn during the Covid-19 pandemic was shared in social media posts, falsely claiming he was personally overseeing relief efforts. Released by Thailand’s Royal Office in May 2020, the photo shows the kingdom’s monarch inspecting hand sanitizers that were to be distributed to the public.
“#King Rama X flew a plane to a military camp in Chiang Rai,” read part of the Thai caption, using King Vajiralongkorn’s formal title, on a photo shared on Facebook on September 13, 2024.
“He ordered officials to prepare drones and flood relief kits to be delivered to various locations with the help of soldiers. This morning, officials began delivering these items to flood victims.”
Residents in Chiang Rai Province in the north of the country they were struggling with what they called the worst flooding in decades after Typhoon Yagi tore through northern Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar in early September (archived link).
Floods and landslides activated by Yagi have killed more than 500 people in the region, according to official figures (archived link).
The photo shows the kingdom’s monarch dressed in a blue tracksuit and yellow face mask as he talks to officers in military uniform kneeling around him.
The same photo was also shared elsewhere on Facebook, X And TikTok.
It circulated after the Thai newspaper Matichon reported that King Vajiralongkorn had ordered his secret council to deliver survival kits to flood victims in another northern Thai province, Phitsanulok (archived link).
Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra also has the the king’s care for the victims of the floods and his appreciation for volunteers (archived link).
However, there were no official reports until September 16 indicating that the king was personally overseeing relief efforts in the north of the country.
Photo during the Covid-19 pandemic
A reverse search on Google led to the same photo that was on the website from the Thai Royal Office on May 1, 2020 (archived link).
According to the caption of the photo, the King was briefed by officers on the production of hand sanitizers to be distributed as a preventive measure during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Below is a screenshot comparing the image in the fake post (left) with the photo from the Royal Office (right):
A subsequent keyword search showed that the same photo was also used in news reports from May 1, 2020.
The photo appears on the 2:02 point from a news item uploaded to the verified YouTube channel of Thai broadcaster MCOT, and a report published by the BBC’s Thai-language website (archived links here And here).
A similar photo of the King, from a series of images released by the Royal Office, was also made available on AFP archives on May 1, 2020.
The photo was captioned: “This undated leaflet from the Thai Royal Office, released on May 1, 2020, shows Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn (left) looking at hand sanitizers donated to the public as a preventive measure against the spread of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 in Bangkok.”
AFP has debunked other misinformation about the floods in northern Thailand here And here.
