Khmer New Year, or “Choul Chnam Thmey,” is one of the most important holidays in Cambodia, where people celebrate, spend time with family, visit pagodas, and gather at specific spots to splash water on each other. Recently, a viral image showing a crowd of people was claimed to depict a water festival during the Khmer New Year. The image, widely shared and receiving mixed reactions, was found by Fact Crescendo to be AI-generated.
Social Media Claim
A viral video shows a sea of people packed tightly into a narrow street, flanked by two traditional-style buildings with Southeast Asian architecture, one resembling a royal palace and the other a colonial-era structure. It was shared with a caption claiming it depicted the Khmer New Year celebration in Cambodia.
The sheer size of the crowd led many users to believe the video was taken during a major national festival such as the Khmer New Year.
For more information and specific details regarding this post, see below.
The same photo claim has been shared in another Facebook post, attracting significant attention and sparking numerous reactions from social media users, leading to debates across different platforms. For more information and further details about this post, see below.
The photo above was also posted by a Thai user in a public Facebook group with the text, “Tourists know who is the original.” The post received thousands of reactions and hundreds of comments from social media users.
Given the claim’s extensive dissemination and the considerable attention, it has received from the internet community, we believed it was necessary to perform a fact-check on the above subject.
Fact Check
Fact Crescendo has investigated and verification of the above claim using Google Reverse Image Search and relevant keywords, leading to the following findings:
The above image is not linked to any photojournalist, news outlet, or known festival documentation. A reverse image search failed to find any matches from reputable sources.
The overall scene of the Khmer New Year celebration on the first day in Phnom Penh was publicly shared on the official Facebook page of Phnom Penh’s Deputy Governor, Koeut Chhe.
The photos posted depict large crowds of people joyfully taking part in traditional activities at Wat Phnom, which is considered the heart of the city during such festivities.
These following images provide a clear and authentic view of the real events that took place. However, after careful comparison, none of the official photos resemble or match the image that has been recently circulating online and claimed to represent the water festival in Cambodia.
Many images and videos of the Khmer New Year celebration in Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital, can be found across reliable sources, including posts from the Cambodian Prime Minister, Hun Manet (archived link), news reports (archived link), and an aerial footage by KiloTRAVEL (archived link).
The following video also shows a large crowd gathered at Wat Phnom’s Sankranta celebration on Day 3 of the Khmer New Year, and it does not appear to match the recently circulated image.
We also investigated one of the yellow, traditional-style buildings in the viral image, which closely resembles the Preah Tineang Tevea Vinnichay Mohai Moha Prasat also known as the Throne Hall in Phnom Penh’s Royal Palace. However, the real Throne Hall is located deep inside the gated palace grounds, far from any public street where such a large crowd could gather. This makes it unlikely that the scene in the viral image is real.
The actual Throne Hall can be seen in the following Flickr photo.
To also verify if these images were generated by artificial intelligence, we analyzed them using various AI content analysis tools. The results confirmed that the images were indeed AI-generated.
Below is a screenshot of the evaluation results from an AI content analysis website, confirming that the images were created using artificial intelligence.
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Conclusion
Fact Crescendo found that the above-mentioned imagery is AI-generated. While it is true that crowds of people were celebrating Khmer New Year at specific spots across the city, the imagery above was created for aesthetic or viral impact and is being misrepresented as a real-life event.
Title:Viral Image of Massive Festival Crowd in Phnom Penh Is AI-Generated
Written By: Kakada SimResult: Altered
