Photo Depicting Hun Manet Wearing Vietnamese Army Hat Altered 

Public announcement by Cambodian PM, Hun Sen, to support his son Hun Manet as Prime Minister Officials following him have issued a series of messages of support from all public and private institutions. The announcement also drew criticism from supporters and leaders from opposition parties as well on various social media. Meanwhile, a photo showing Cambodian PM’s son, Hun Manet wearing a Vietnamese Army Hat was posted on Facebook recently. This photo was reacted with mixed comments and reshared by Facebook users who are speaking Khmer. However, after running a Google Reverse Image search, it proves that the photo above was altered.

This is about our investigation of this photo.

Social Media Claim

On January 24, 2022, one of the Facebook users posted a photo depicting a view of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen's son, Hun Manet, wearing a Vietnamese army hat. This is along with the phrase stating, “the dictator enters the shadows”. The attached photo has received mixed reactions from social media users and has been widely distributed many times on Facebook.

The following screenshot was captured from the Facebook user’s post which translates in English as “Vietnamese children are invading Khmer kingdom, killing Khmer, destroying Khmer, dividing Khmer in all forms, Hun Manet not only purged but the party, even those in the party are clearing it, such as the former CPP leader, Chea Sim, Heng Samrin, Sar Kheng, are all the targets that it must be destroyed”.

Facebook Post | Archived Link

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.

An exact photo of the same shape and form was publicly found on the official Facebook page of Hun Manet, which was posted on October 27, 2015. Mr. Hun Manet was Commonly known as the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces and the CPP's prime ministerial candidate for the near future. The following is a screenshot captured from the Facebook page above without showing the view of him wearing a Vietnamese army hat at all.

Facebook Post | Archived Link

Similarly, according to the news media website of Grand News Asia published on October 20, 2016, it also shows photos of the same format and shape of Hun Manet. The following is an excerpt from the news media website above which translates in English as “Mr. Hun Manet congratulates and thanks to his father and mother for everything he has got today”.

Grand News Asia | Archived Link

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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 photo posted and claimed by the above Facebook user was altered. It had been edited before it was posted on social media. This photo does not show Hun Manet wearing a Vietnamese Army Hat at all and this photo was uploaded on his official Facebook page on October 27, 2015.