Article

Did a Thailand Cave Lead to the Discovery of New Creatures?

The video was shared nearly 30,000 times on TikTok alone, despite the fact that we published a fact check on the subject years before.

Published June 18, 2021

 (Jemayel Khawaja (Original Video))
Image Via Jemayel Khawaja (Original Video)

On May 20, 2021, a new TikTok account, @lit_nature, posted a video that claimed to show "new creatures found near [a] water cave in Thailand."

Words on the video read: "Strange creatures caught on video. Exploring a small chain of islands, a tour group stumbled upon a frightening sight. They heard a strange 'scream' from one of the islands, and [upon] investigating they found these creatures near a cave. They seemed to be in a strange ritual."

A second video was later posted that claimed the creatures could be "early ancestors" of human beings.

The video's words read: "From the video, scientists have speculated the species' importance, as it could be one of our early ancestors and could help with fighting diseases and illness. But until one can be caught for study, it is unknown what exactly it is. According to the area report, the island is listed [as] private property, which means that no government body can enter the area."

What were these purportedly "new creatures"? Viewers provided their guesses below the videos.

Commenters Discuss the 'New Creatures'

One TikTok user said of the purported "new creatures" in Thailand: "I've been there. It's an island full of monkeys."

Another remarked with: "We've known about monkeys for years. Nothing new about them."

"You need to watch Animal Planet if you don't know what they are," another commenter said.

However, the "new creatures" in Thailand weren't monkeys, nor would Animal Planet likely be of much help here.

One person joked that they were Gremlins from the old films. Another said: "Those are just my sister-in-laws chilling."

2018

While the viral TikTok video was uploaded in 2021, it was not new. The clip appeared to be from the year 2018, back when we published a fact check on the subject.

As we've said before, everything old is new again on TikTok.

In addition to the more than 6 million TikTok views, the video had also been seen millions of times on YouTube. The most popular YouTube video was titled: "Ewok Like Troll Monkeys On Thai Island."

A quick bit of research about "new creatures found near [a] water cave in Thailand" led us to the name Tori Wrånes.

Art

Despite the idea that the video showed an animal that had never been documented before the 21st century, the truth was much simpler.

According to an article and Facebook post from XIBT Contemporary Art Magazine, both of which were published in 2019, it was nothing more than the artistic creation of Tori Wrånes.

The magazine wrote that she "transported Norwegian fantastic fiction even beyond the borders of her country."

Although the vision of trolls playing flute seems almost absurd, especially in the tropics, the performers and the artist have transferred this vision to reality. At the moment Wrånes is one of the most established artistic personalities in Scandinavia. Last year, she was invited to the first edition of the Thailand Biennale, which was characterized by the theme: “Edge of Wonderland”. She decided to create a live herd of a mysterious species on the island of Krabi.

The group of creatures, when spotted, was playing on supposed “historical” instruments at the Phra Nang cave. The performance seemed to fall somewhere in between controversial and influential art. The actions are incomprehensible, covered with a mantle of fairytale and dark mystery, but it is thanks to these features that they touch deeply or even evoke extreme emotions.

The person who shot the video was credited as Jemayel Khawaja.

In the end, the "new creatures" purportedly discovered in a water cave in Thailand were nothing more than an art exhibition.

This wasn't the first time we've seen artistic expression twisted into something purportedly spooky and mysterious. For example, we previously reported on "zombies" being spotted on Google Maps Street View. It was nothing more than an interesting roadside attraction.

Jordan Liles is a Senior Reporter who has been with Snopes since 2016.