Multiple Facebook posts shared hundreds of times in early July 2022 claim the World Bank warned Thailand's economy was on the verge of collapse after being battered during the pandemic. This is false. The World Bank told AFP it had not issued such a warning and it predicted last month that the kingdom's economy would grow over the next three years as private consumption and tourism recovers. Independent economists said the country's economy is not currently at risk of bankruptcy despite challenges such as high inflation and debt.

The claim was shared here on Facebook on July 7, 2022. It has since been shared more than 1,000 times.

The Thai-language post translates to English as: "Shock!! The World Bank warns Thailand: Thailand's economic system is collapsing entirely."

The same claim was shared on Facebook here, here, here and here.

Thailand's economy was badly battered during the pandemic and suffered its worst performance since the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

However, it rebounded and grew 2.2 percent in the first quarter of 2022 after Southeast Asia's second-largest economy relaxed its pandemic restrictions, a stark turnaround from a 6.1 percent contraction in 2020, AFP reported.

The World Bank told AFP that it had not issued the statement or warned of Thailand's imminent economic collapse.

Kanitha Kongrukgreatiyos, external affairs officer for the World Bank's Thailand office, said: "The claims shared in the misleading social media post did not come from the World...

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