"Here is Pai district, land of the Jewish gods," reads the Thai-language caption on a Facebook reel of a group of mostly-white people dancing shared on February 18. The post racked up 600,000 views before it was deleted.
Thai sticker text on the clip reads: "What are they celebrating? Jews in Pai district. The government must provide answers."
Pai is a small district in the northern Mae Hong Son province, a popular tourist spot known for its cultural and natural attractions (archived link).
Image
Screenshot of the false post, taken on February 19, 2025
Anti-Israeli sentiment in Thailand has grown, particularly after a string of incidents involving unruly Israeli tourists in the country's north in February (archived link).
The Southeast Asian country deported four Israeli tourists who allegedly broke into and vandalised a hospital in Pai, while two more were arrested for working without permits as musicians in a restaurant in the same district.
AFP has debunked another false claim about a purported Israeli settlement in Pai.
The video of people dancing also appeared on Instagram and X, but it in fact shows an annual music festival in a neighbouring province.
Reverse image and keyword searches on Google and Facebook led to a similar video taken from a different angle, published on Facebook on February 15 and captioned "Day 9th Drum Circle" (archived link).
The post includes a location tag at "Shambhala In Your Heart Festival, Chiang Dao", a district...
Member of the group DJ DOC, Lee Ha-neul has announced a counter-suit against singer Jubi Train and the representative of his agency BASS Camp Studio. On the 21st, BASS Camp Studio issued an offici...