Video shows land rights demonstrations in Chiang Mai, rather than rallying against Myanmar leaders
Protesters in Bangkok opposed the Myanmar military captain, who visited the city for a regional summit, killed more than 3,600 people by a devastating earthquake. But, in fact, a video of a demonstration was filmed in the northern Chiang Mai city of Thailand, which was filmed by a land rights protest by indigenous groups.
“Min Aung Hlaing was asked to leave other countries during his visit,” said the Myanmar-language Facebook post when it shared on April 4.
The accompanying video chanting in front of the building has the same text overlay. It has since gained over 3,800 views.
Screenshot of fake post taken on April 11, 2025
The video is shared with the same proposition on Facebook, YouTube and Tiktok.
On April 4, after a meeting with leaders of the Bangladesh coastal state at a luxury Bangkok hotel on the coastal coast of Myanmar, the people who died more than 3,600 people in his home country due to a magnitude 7.7 earthquake (released link).
The decision to invite him was criticized, with protesters hanging a banner from a bridge read from the venue: “We do not welcome the murderer Min Aung Hlaing.”
However, the video in circulation actually shows land rights protests in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand, a few days ago, the government captain visited Bangkok.
Searching for keywords on Tiktok for usernames seen in Facebook videos led to a Thai user posting a post titled “Protest Land Rights” tag (archive link).
The user also posted other videos of the rally, requiring land rights to be claimed in the video title (which is here and archived here).
The Thai sticker text reads: “If your land is available, then a thousand of us are ready to enter your home.”
Comparison of screenshots of fake posts (left) and original tiktok posts
Thai broadcaster PBS posted a similar photo on Facebook on March 29, an article in the post said forest communities and northern farmers groups gathered in front of Chiang Mai City Hall to demand that the government review the Forest Protection Act violate its rights (archived link).
A photo from Thailand PBS shows the same characters seen in the Tiktok video (archive link).
Comparing the screenshot of Tiktok video (left) with Thai PBS screenshots, AFP highlights similarities
Google Street View images also show that the building in the Tiktok video is Chiang Mai Town Hall, more than 590 km (370 miles) from Bangkok (Archived Link).
AFP debunked other false claims surrounding Myanmar’s devastating earthquake.
