A claim that police in Thailand can issue fines to anyone who does not wear a face mask in public during the novel coronavirus pandemic has been shared repeatedly on Facebook, Twitter and Line Messenger.
Below is a screenshot of the Line message:, The Thai-language message translates to English as: “When you go outside, don’t forget to wear a mask. Otherwise if you see the police checking point, you will be fine for 200 THB”., 200 Thai Baht is the equivalent of 6 US dollars., A similar claim was\xa0made by Thai Facebook users here and here, and also on Twitter here., The claim is\xa0false., As of March 2020, there was\xa0no law in Thailand that enabled\xa0police to fine the public for not wearing face masks during a pandemic. During a phone conversation with AFP on March 31, 2020, Thai lawyer and human rights activist Ronnarong Kaewphet said: “No, there is no provision in the Thai legislation which mentions anything like this.”, Royal Police spokesperson Krissana Pattanacharoen told AFP during a telephone conversation on March 27, 2020 the claim is “fake news”., “It is indeed fake, and we have arrested a number of people who started spreading this kind of news,” he said., AFP also found this statement on the Facebook page of Police Radio Thailand, the Public Affair Division of the Royal Thai Police, published on March 26, 2020., It reads, in part: “The spokesman of the Royal Thai Police also denied that police charged a fine of 200 baht if (people) do not wear a mask, as per the news on social media, by confirming as fake news”, Thailand’s Anti-Fake News Centre, a government-run platform within the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society, also published this report on March 26, 2020, labeling the claims in the misleading post as “fake news”., Below is a screenshot of the Anti-Fake News Centre’s article:, The Thai headline translates to English as: “Fake news, don’t share! People who walk pass police checking point, not wearing a mask will be fined for 200 Baht”., , Copyright © AFP 2017-2020.  All rights reserved.  Users can access and consult this website and use the share features available for personal, private, and non-commercial purposes.  Any other use, in particular any reproduction, communication to the public or distribution of the content of this website, in whole or in part, for any other purpose and/or by any other means, without a specific licence agreement signed with AFP, is strictly prohibited.  The subject matter depicted or included via links within the Fact Checking content is provided to the extent necessary for correct understanding of the verification of the information concerned.  AFP has not obtained any rights from the authors or copyright owners of this third party content and shall incur no liability in this regard.  AFP and its logo are registered trademarks.
COVID pandemic: misinformation spreads in Thailand about police powers to fine people who fail to wear face masks in public | AFP Fact Check