BANGKOK (AFP) – Thailand yesterday posted an artificial intelligence (AI)-generated video of its prime minister speaking in Mandarin encouraging Chinese tourists to visit the kingdom despite reports of kidnappings on the Thai-Myanmar border.
In the clip made by generative AI posted to the government’s Facebook page, a likeness of Paetongtarn Shinawatra appears speaking in fluent Mandarin, a language she does not speak in real life.
Thailand has been seeking to quell safety concerns among potential Chinese tourists ahead of the Lunar New Year travel period as fears have mounted over reported kidnappings on the Thai-Myanmar border.
Scam compounds have mushroomed in Myanmar’s borderlands and are staffed by foreigners who are often trafficked and forced to work, swindling their compatriots in an industry analysts said is worth billions of dollars.
The Thai government was boosting safety measures and combatting transnational crime, Paetongtarn’s AI image said in the video.
The PM’s video likeness emphasised at the start of the clip that it had been made with AI.
China remained at the top of Thailand’s tourist numbers list in the first two weeks of January, comprising almost a sixth of the 1.3 million arrivals. The Thai government anticipates a further seven per cent rise in Chinese tourists during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday period, which is expected to add THB8.8 billion (USD255 million) to the kingdom’s income.
