Overview
- The image first appeared on the Tha Luang Provincial Police Station Facebook page and was widely shared by local and international outlets before its origin was checked.
- The station’s page administrator, Sergeant Rachata Mitrsuripong, told AFP he generated the costume image with AI to show a ‘cute and humorous’ side so the public would feel more comfortable approaching police.
- AFP used Google’s SynthID Detector and reported a very high confidence that the circulated image was AI-generated, a finding that matched the administrator’s admission.
- The station published the authentic original photo after inquiries and labeled the earlier post as AI-generated, while saying the written arrest details were genuine except for an incorrect suspect name.
- The episode highlights how quickly synthetic images can mislead newsrooms and social platforms and shows the role of detection tools and local transparency in correcting viral misinformation.