Video showing Grab rider flying to S’pore to buy chicken rice for Thai customer is fictional: Grab

 

A man dressed in Grab's green uniform was seen boarding a plane from Bangkok to Singapore, in a video that the ride-hailing company has claimed is fictional. -SCREENGRAB FROM THITA.VY/TIKTOK

SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/Asia News Network): A viral TikTok video claiming that a Grab rider is flying to Singapore to buy chicken rice for his customer in Thailand is a work of fiction, a Grab spokesperson said on Monday (Oct 30).

In the video that has since clocked more than three million views, a Thai Grab delivery rider is seen boarding an AirAsia plane in his company’s signature green uniform, carrying with him a Grab thermal delivery bag as well as his passport.

The 27-second video was posted by TikTok user @thita.vy, who said she was initially wondering why people would order food to the airport when she saw the Grab rider.

She said the rider told her that he was hired to fly to Singapore to buy chicken rice, and have it delivered back to Bangkok.

In response to The Straits Times’ queries, a spokesperson for Grab said: “We understand that the fictional video was created by a member of the public independently.

“We do not offer such a service, and the person starring as a delivery-partner in the video is not registered with Grab.”

Grab added that the only cross-border delivery service it has is its 100+ Cities Delivery programme, which allows users to send vouchers, gifts or food to loved ones who live in other South-east Asian cities.

But they cannot order food from other cities to be delivered back home.

The fictional video has generated many online chatters. Some netizens said they were not surprised that rich people would commission such a service to satisfy their craving, while others questioned if the scenes were staged.

In September, another TikTok video showing a Grab rider purportedly on a flight from Medan in Sumatra to Yogyakarta in Java also went viral. The rider told the flight attendant that he was making this 2,400km trip to buy a famous snack for his customer.

Grab Indonesia has clarified that its delivery partners would not be able to fulfill such inter-island orders.

Local media also identified the man in the video as Erwin Siahaan, a politician from the Indonesian Solidarity Party, who used to be a delivery rider. Some netizens asked if he was trying to drum up publicity for himself in the lead up to the 2024 general election.