Sam Rainsy and His Wife Swearing in the Royal Palace Claimed Their Wedding Photo

An image of Cambodia’s main opposition leader Sam Rainsy and his wife dressing in traditional clothes was recently circulated on social media with a claim saying it is their wedding photo. The image had been shared​ multiple times by Khmer-speaking social media users. However, after running Google Reverse Image Search, we found the claim over the image to be misleading.

Social Media Claim

An image of Cambodia’s main opposition leader Sam Rainsy and his wife dressing in traditional clothes and walking in the Royal Palace was uploaded on Facebook early this month. The image was overlaid with “Tioulong Saumura and Sam Rainsy on their wedding day.”

The image got many shares, a mixture of comments and reactions from Khmer-speaking Facebook users. Below is the capture of the image posted on social media on August 01.

Facebook Post | Archived Link

Fact Check

Fact Crescendo Cambodia started debunking the claim over the image by running Google Reverse Image Search which led us to find the facts below.

The same image can be seen on the website CSC DAILY. It published the photo in an article describing the biography of Tioulong Saumura, Cambodia’s prominent opposition leader Sam Rainsy’s wife.

The photo is of the opposition couple in traditional clothes going to swear in the Royal Palace after they were appointed as Minister of Economy and Finance and Deputy Governor of the Cambodian central bank in the first term of the government following the 1993 general election, according to her biography published by the media.

CSD DAILY | Archived Link

The same photo can be seen in another article published by the media in 2020. See the photo here.

Sam Rainsy growing up in France married his wife in 1971 in Paris where she continued her study, according to their biography published by CSC DAILY.

Conclusion

Fact Crescendo Cambodia found out the claim over the photo mentioned above is misleading. The photo showing Sam Rainsy and his wife in traditional clothes is not their wedding. This image is of the Cambodian opposition couple going to swear in the Royal Palace after they were appointed to the government following the 1993 general election.