Similar Facebook posts linked the photos here, here and here to the floods in northern Thailand.
However, the house in the picture was actually built in Malaysia.
Flood-proof home in Malaysia
A reverse image search on Google found the first photo in a December 2022 report by Malaysia’s national news agency Bernama (archived link).
The headline of the article in Malay read: “‘My house, my raft’ saved Pokwe’s family from floods.”
Former truck driver A. Bakar Che Ahmad, 67, better known as Pokwe, was quoted as saying he built the flood-resistant house in Kampung Tebak Batu 16 in western Malaysia from “69 plastic barrels and 54 pieces of siding boards.”
He was reportedly inspired by his floating chicken coop, which prevented his pets from being washed away in floods in 2019.
The second photo was published in a similar October 2022 report by Malaysian newspaper Utusan Malaysia, which included a photo of the house (archived link).
Below is a screenshot comparison of the photos shared in fake Facebook posts (left) and news reports about the house in Malaysia (right):
A keyword search on Google found a TikTok video posted on December 24, 2022, showing various photos of the construction of the house (archived link).
The uploader of the clip told AFP that the video shows his father’s floating house in Malaysia.
The house cannot be seen on Google Street View because the most recent images of the area in western Malaysia were taken in 2015, before the house was built.
However, the TikTok video also shows other Street View elements of the area, such as a cell phone tower behind trees, which is visible at minute 1:56 in the video.
Below is a screenshot comparison between a Google Maps image of the area (left) and the TikTok video (right), with AFP highlighting similar elements:
There is also a Malaysian flag on the flagpole, suggesting that the film was shot in Malaysia.
