Fact Check: Cambodia New Banknote Altered With Hun Sen Smiling
A photo of a new Cambodia banknote showing a portrait photo of Hun Sen Smiling was posted recently on Facebook. It was reshared and reacted with many mixed comments and it may be believed to be real by some Cambodian Facebook users. This comes after major national elections are approaching in the next two years. Criticism and political verbal attacks have become a topic of debate among users. However, after running a Google Reverse Image search, it proves that the photo above was actually altered.
This is about our investigation of this claim.
Social Media Claim
On October 23, 2021, one of the Facebook users posted a photo on a Group named “TV Sorn Dara” which depicts the Cambodia new banknotes that have just been officially launched. This photo also shows the portrait image of Cambodian prime minister, Hun Sen, with a mustache and thick eyebrows. The photo above may be believed by some Facebook users to be a real photo, with many Facebook users sharing and reacting.
Here is the screenshot captured from a user's post that translates in English as“Is he handsome, everyone?”.
Similarly, this new type of banknote was also digitally edited and posted by other users on October 24, 2021 . More images from the users' post showed the photo of Cambodian prime minister, Hun Sen, and the use of violence on new banknotes.
Fact Check
Fact Crescendo Cambodia had started to check and verify this photo directly by running a Google Reverse Image search, which brought us to the sources containing the following photos.
A photo of this exact same form and shape was found on a local news website called “The Phnom Penh Post” that was published on October 18, 2021. An image captured from The Phnom Penh Post, which reads in English as “New 30,000 riel bill to mark 1991 Paris Peace Agreements”. This shows that the original banknote has been altered by some Facebook users before posting on the social media platform.
Phnom Penh Post News Report | Archived Link
According to the official Facebook page of the Ministry of Information of Cambodia also published the announcement of the official launch of 30,000 riel banknotes on October 18, 2021.
The following is a screenshot captured from the Ministry of Information's Facebook page that reads in Khmer and translates in English as “National Bank of Cambodia announced the characteristics of the 30,000 riel banknote”.
Ministry of Information Link | Archived Link
The following is a sub-decree from the government on the issuance of a new Cambodia 30,000 riel banknote.
The following is an announcement from the National Bank of Cambodia on the characteristics of the new 30,000 riel banknote.
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You may find the details of this fact-check in Khmer language here as well.
Conclusion
Fact Crescendo Cambodia has found that the photos posted by the above users are altered. This photo was edited before being posted on social media. This new Cambodia 30,000 riel banknote actually depicts the late king's father, Sihanouk, at the front and highlights an autograph of him with Cambodian prime minister, Hun Sen, at the back.
