After a deadly construction accident on a major highway in Thailand’s capital Bangkok in March 2025, an old image of concrete slabs suspended over cars was shared thousands of times in posts that misleadingly presented it as showing more potential danger elsewhere on the road. While construction site accidents are common in Thailand where lax enforcement of safety regulations often leads to deadly accidents, authorities told AFP the image shows an overpass as it was being built in 2023.
The image of concrete slabs suspended over a highway was shared on Instagram on March 18, 2025.
Superimposed Thai-language text on the image reads: “Who will be the chosen one?”
“From the heart of someone who lives in Rama 2,” its caption adds, referring to the Rama II road, a major highway connecting Bangkok to Thailand’s southern region.
It was shared after several people were killed when a crane collapsed at a construction site on the road in Bangkok’s Chom Thong district in the early hours of March 15 (archived here and here).
Major work has been under way for years to expand the road’s capacity and reduce congestion but the project has been beset by delays and fatalities (archived link).
Screenshot of the misleading Instagram post, captured on March 27, 2025
The same image was posted with similar text elsewhere on Instagram, as well as on Facebook and X where it was shared tens of thousands of times.
The image, however, predates the March 15 accident.
A keyword search on YouTube led to a video published on March 22, 2023 that shows a similar view of an overpass being built over a highway (archived link).
Screenshot comparison of the misleadingly shared image (left) and the YouTube video (right), with corresponding features highlighted by AFP
Titled “Na Ranong Overpass Update”, the video was posted on a YouTube channel that regularly uploads content about construction projects and traffic routes around the Thai capital.
The video’s description provides a Google Maps link showing where the construction was taking place, in Bangkok’s Klong Toey district, while Street View imagery from May 2024 shows the completed overpass (archived here and here).
Screenshot comparison of the misleadingly shared image (left) and the location as seen in Google Street View imagery (right), with similarities highlighted by AFP
The Department of Public Works under the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) told AFP the image was taken around March 2023.
According to the department’s spokesperson, the construction began in 2018 but delays meant the overpass was not opened to traffic until June 1, 2023 (archived link).
