Thailand's foreign ministry on Thursday denied that French President Emmanuel Macron knelt before King Maha Vajiralongkorn during the Thai monarch's state visit to Paris, after an AI-generated image went viral online.
State visit marks 170 years of diplomatic relations
King Maha Vajiralongkorn and Queen Suthida's visit to France was the first official state visit by a Thai monarch since 1960. The trip marked the 170th anniversary of formal diplomatic relations between Thailand and France.
During a state dinner at the Élysée Presidential Palace, Macron presented the 73-year-old king with the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour—France's highest award—and Queen Suthida with the Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit, according to Thai media reports.
Viral image triggers celebration and skepticism
An image widely circulated on social media in Thailand purported to show Macron kneeling as he presented the awards. A Thai-language Facebook post featuring the image on Wednesday garnered more than 40,000 likes and over 2,000 shares within a day. The post was also shared by a page with more than two million followers that frequently publishes pro-military and nationalist commentary.
One commenter on the post wrote: “I’m so happy and deeply touched that France, a country far wealthier and more developed than ours, still places such importance on our country.” Another described Macron as “so charming” and said he had “completely won over Thai hearts with this.”
Official denial and fact-checking
An official from Thailand's foreign ministry confirmed to AFP that the image was AI-generated. “There is no evidence of any image showing Emmanuel Macron kneeling to present a royal decoration,” the official said.
AFP's fact-check service ran the picture through OpenAI's image verification tool, which determined that it was “generated with OpenAI tools.” AFP also compared the outfit worn by the woman resembling Queen Suthida in the online post with AFP pictures of the queen taken during the state visit, finding key differences. An AFP review of official photographs published by Thailand's foreign ministry of the leaders at the decoration ceremony and state dinner found no images of Macron kneeling before the king.
