Beggar Elephant Attacks Two Beach-goers in Rayong
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The elephant that attacked tourists on a beach in Rayong on 16 June 2015.
Khaosod English
June 16, 2015
Two people have been hospitalized after they were attacked by an elephant that was being used to beg for money on a beach in eastern Thailand.
Kusuma Laopan, 32, said she and two of her friends were sitting on a beach in Noen Phra district of Rayong province last night when a man led two elephants over and asked the group to buy sugar cane for the animals.
After she and her friends refused, the elephant handler, known as a mahout, started to walk away, but one of the elephants suddenly snapped and charged at two of her friends, Kusuma said.
"I and other tourists in the area ran for our lives," Kusuma recounted. "Luckily, the mahout stepped in and stopped the elephant, so it stopped harming other people. The mahout then led the elephants away to the other side of the road."
The two victims have been identified as Weeranat Yoodee, 28, and Thongpoon Boonraksatrakul, 30. Weeranat was struck by the elephant's tusks in his chest, while Thongpoon suffered bruises on his right rib cage from the elephant's stomping, according to medical workers at Krungthep Rayong Hospital. The two men are in stable condition, medical workers said.
Elephants are routinely brought by mahouts to beg for money from tourists in urban areas and tourist attractions around Thailand. The practice has been widely condemned by animal rights advocates, who say it is harmful for the elephants.
Under Thailand’s Animal Cruelty Prevention Act, which was passed by the interim parliament in late 2014, those caught "causing unnecessary cruelty" to animals face a 40,000 baht fine and two years in prison. Thai authorities have said the law applies to people who bring elephants to beg in cities.
Police in Rayong said the mahout whose elephants attacked the tourists last night will be arrested and face legal action.
"Rayong province has strictly forbidden using elephants to wander and sell goods," said Pol.Lt.Col. Thawat Norsingha, an officer at Mueang Rayong Police Station. The two elephants will be brought to a local animal shelter, he added.
The mahout, 21-year-old Witthawat Uanduangdee, told reporters that he brought the two elephants from Buriram province four days ago. He said he was "confused" to see one of elephants attack tourists because both creatures have been very friendly to people.
"I think it might have been startled by car headlights and engine sounds," Witthawat said, adding that he now regrets his actions.
'Elephant Beggar' Attacks Two Beach-goers in Rayong
Elephant Kills Man at Beachside Dinner in Thailand
News.com.au
June 17, 2015
An elephant has killed a Thai man and injured his colleague as they were eating dinner at a beachside restaurant in eastern Thailand.
The 28-year-old local telecoms employee died in hospital after the elephant gored his chest with its tusk as he ate hotpot with a fellow worker in the coastal city of Rayong late Monday, according to police.
“They were talking to the mahout (elephant keeper) about buying food for the elephant when it suddenly stabbed one man in the chest with its tusk and kicked the other,” local police Lieutenant Thawat Nongsingha told AFP.
The mahout has been charged with offences including violating animal welfare legislation and negligence causing death, Thawat said. He added the mahout had been released from custody while the elephant was still under the mahout’s care.
The maximum penalty for negligence causing death is 10 years in jail and a fine of 20,000 baht ($600).
Thailand’s roughly 4,000 domesticated elephants outnumber an estimated 2,500 remaining in the wild. The capture of wild elephants for entertainment use is banned.
Domestic elephants in Thailand — where the pachyderm is a national symbol — have been used en masse in the tourist trade since they found themselves unemployed in 1989 when logging was banned. They are prohibited from entering cities but incidents of mahouts using the animals as a tool for begging are not uncommon, while elephants are frequently used legally for the amusement of holiday-makers in camps and zoos.
The telecoms worker died on Tuesday while his 30-year-old colleague remains in hospital.
Elephant kills man at beachside dinner in Thailand
