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A photo of a flooded street has been shared dozens of times in Facebook posts and an online petition calling for the resignation of newly elected Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt for allegedly failing to tackle deadly floods in the Thai capital. However, the image has been shared in a misleading context. The picture circulated in news reports and social media posts in March 2022, two months before Chadchart was elected governor. There have been no flood-related deaths reported so far in Bangkok in 2022, an official told AFP. Someone... has invited citizens to submit their names to call for the resignation of the governor of Bangkok, reads the Thai-language caption of this Facebook post, dated August 16, 2022. The post includes a link to a Change.org petition , which features the photo showing cars submerged in flood. The petition circulated shortly after parts of Bangkok were inundated following heavy downpours, local media reported . The petition's title translates to English as: Calling for the resignation of the governor of Bangkok. It alleges that Chadchart is unable to fulfill his election promise to tackle the flood problem in the Thai capital, and that there has been flood-related deaths since he took office. Presently the problem of floods has exacerbated to areas where it has never flooded before and even resulted in death, the petition states. Screenshot of the misleading post, taken on August 18, 2022 Chadchart was elected governor on May 22, 2022, defeating incumbent candidate Aswin Kwanmuang in the the city's first election since the 2014 military coup in Thailand. The photo has been shared more than 100 times after it was posted in social media posts urging people to sign the petition, such as here and here . However, the photo predates Chadchart's election as governor. Old photo A reverse image search found the photo was posted by a Thai Twitter user on March 20, 2022. The tweet alerted JS100 , a Bangkok-based radio station, that an alley in Huai Khwang , a district in eastern Bangkok, was flooded. The photo was tweeted by JS100 on the same day, with the caption: There is flooding in every alley in Huai Khwang, crediting it to the Twitter user. RT @AruwanTuk : ห้วยขวาง มีน้ําท่วมขังทุกซอย pic.twitter.com/97Hlk8d7At — JS100 (@js100radio) March 20, 2022 The photo was also published in a Thai-language news report about the flood on March 20, 2022. The headline of the Krungthep Turakit report reads: Downpour all over Bangkok; Huai Khwang is hardest hit with 94 mm of rainfall. The photo was taken at an alley in Huai Khwang district, as shown in Google Maps here . Recent floods Sunsern Rueangrit , an assistant director for the Bangkok government's Flood Control Center unit , told AFP on August 18 that there had been no reported flood-related deaths so far in the Thai capital in 2022. Regarding the heavy rains which had caused flooding problems in Bangkok, the situation has never resulted in any loss of life, he said. The flash floods affected the daily commute of citizens, such as inconvenience during daily commute and traffic issues. AFP did not find media reports detailing fatalities related to flash floods in Bangkok in 2022, including in March and August.
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