Image of Thai police in sparkly dresses with handcuffed suspect turns out to be AI fake

Image was created by administrator in charge of station’s Facebook account who wanted to create ‘friendlier image’

It was an arresting image and an irresistible story. A group of tough Thai police officers – five men and one woman – all wearing elaborate festival-style dresses, surrounding a drug dealer they had caught while undercover.

The image, released by local police, was so compelling that it found its way onto the front page of the UK’s Daily Star, as well as in picture stories in the Telegraph, the Sun and the New York Post.