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A social media post claimed that a Thai journalist had made a statement about the controversial 323 containers apparently released by Sri Lankan Customs without physical inspection in 2025. Many social media users shared the post believing it to be true. However, Fact Crescendo investigated the claim and found no evidence to support it, deeming it false and misleading. The fact-check is given below.
Social Media Posts:
“A popular Thai journalist made a debatable statement about the 323 containers which arrived in Sri Lanka. A post circulating on social media stating that Pravit Rojanaphruk, a well-known journalist in Thailand, said that 323 containers were released by Sri Lankan customs and that they were transported from Thailand to Sri Lanka, and the containers had weapons belonging to the terrorist organization LTTE…” etc.
Since Container 323 has been the subject of significant debate in Sri Lanka for some time, we conducted a search to confirm whether a Thai journalist had actually made such a statement about it.
Fact Check:
Various parties claimed that Sri Lanka Customs released 323 containers without physical inspection, with approval from a special committee, in January 2025 to reduce congestion and delays of priority goods at the Colombo Port. In response to these claims regarding the uninspected release of the 323 containers, a broad investigation is currently underway through a parliamentary select committee. Additional information on this is available here and here.
Thai journalist Pravit Rojanaphruk has made no statement or note regarding the Container 323 incident in Sri Lanka.
Our investigation, which included a review of all of Thailand’s mainstream media, international news services, and the official social media accounts of journalist Pravit Rojanaphruk, found no evidence that he has made any statements or posts regarding the Container 323 incident in Sri Lanka.
There has been no confirmed news or official report from international media, Thai media, or Sri Lankan mainstream media indicating that these 323 containers contained weapons belonging to the terrorist organization LTTE.
Furthermore, a broader investigation into the Thai context for any relevant statements by Rojanaphruk concerning Sri Lanka or related events also yielded no information.
A view from the 2017 CPJ International Press Freedom Awards ceremony
The video clip of Thai journalist Pravit Rojanaphruk being shared with the relevant post is from the 2017 CPJ International Press Freedom Awards, held in New York on November 15, 2017, where he received an award from the Committee to Protect Journalists in recognition of his commitment to press freedom and addresses the ceremony.
In that complete speech, he does not say anything about Sri Lankan containers or Sri Lanka in any way. The complete speech is here.
However, in June 2025, Jaffna District Member of Parliament Ramanathan Archuna, while addressing Parliament, said that these containers had weapons that LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran had attempted to import from Thailand before 2009. The statement is available here.
The Ministry of Public Security and the police started an investigation into this statement, and it was discovered that the MP had no written or scientific evidence to support it. More information on this can be found here and here.
Customs strongly denies charges that the released containers had weapons that the LTTE attempted to import from Thailand.
Speaking at a special media briefing held on June 8, 2025, the Customs Media Spokesperson, Seevali Arukgoda, strongly denied claims that the 323 released containers contained weapons, drugs, or gold. He said the goods, as stated by the importers, were limited to industrial items and raw materials. He further added that the containers were released only after a complete check of all relevant import documents, and that there was no evidence that any illegal substances were brought in illegally, addressing the controversy regarding the release of containers without physical check.
There is no evidence that the containers came from Thailand
Most of these containers were imported from India and China, with others arriving from Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Switzerland, South Korea, and the United Arab Emirates. He stated that, according to official documents submitted to Customs by the importers, these were essential raw materials and general merchandise for the country’s industries. The contents included plastics, yarn, chemicals, automotive components, animal feed, machinery, pesticides, cement, iron pipes, fertilizers, and wooden materials.
The press conference is below
Deputy Minister of Ports and Civil Aviation
Commenting on the incident in January 2025, when it was reported, Engineer Janith Ruwan Kodithuwakku had said that it had not been proven that anything illegal was in the containers, and that if such a thing happened, the government would accept it. The video is below.
Sri Lanka Customs
Upon inquiry, the current media spokesperson for Sri Lanka Customs stated they were unaware of any such statement made by a Thai journalist. However, he confirmed that a parliamentary committee is currently investigating the containers, and that no information regarding such weapons was found in the post-clearance audits conducted internally by Customs.
Police Media Division
To further confirm this, we inquired with the Police Media Division, which stated that no reports of any such discovery regarding the relevant containers have been filed.
Ministry of Public Security
The Media Secretary of the Minister of Public Security confirmed there has been no report in the country that a Thai journalist has made such a statement regarding the relevant containers, concluding the claim is false.
An inquiry has been sent to Thai journalist Pravit Rojanaphruk for comment, and the article will be updated with any new information.
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Conclusion:
Our investigation shows that the social media posts claiming that Thai journalist Pravit Rojanaphruk stated that the 323 containers released by Sri Lanka Customs without physical inspection contained weapons belonging to the LTTE organization brought from Thailand are false. There is no evidence that such a statement was made by the journalist. The Sri Lanka Police and the Ministry of Public Security have confirmed that no such discovery has been reported.
Title: Has a Thai journalist made a statement regarding the controversial Container 323?
Fact Check By: B.P Hansani
Result: False
