The report, posted online by Bankaonews.com (click here) yesterday (June 13), said that a man had been arrested and his pickup truck seized in the tourist-popular area of Ao Nang, Krabi, after it was found that he was in possession of grenades and bomb-making materials.
The pickup truck was seemingly registered in Narathiwat, and the man said he was “heading for somewhere in Krabi Phang Nga Phuket”, said the very brief report.
The report included photos of the items seized.
“That is not real news,” Col Santi told The Phuket News today (June 14).
“It came from Krabi province, and it’s not possible to relate to Phuket. I am confident that is not real news at all,” he added.
Asked, how he knew the news was “fake”, Col Santi explained, “The soldiers in the photo are soldiers based in Krabi about to conduct a search of a dormitory.”
Also, his soldiers in Phuket have checked the details of the truck and found it not listed as seized or wanted for any illegalities, he added.
“This has nothing to do with a bomb search at all. I don’t know where they got the bomb photo from, but the publisher mixed these photos with few details in news,” he said.
Col Santi assured action against those who posted the photos and news.
“I will find out who published this to clarify why they did this. I have already reported this to my commander,” he said.
“I do not want this fake news to make people misunderstand what has – or has not – actually happened,” Col Santi added.