Thread: Beggar Elephant Attacks Two Beach-goers in Rayong

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

I have encountered other handlers along with their begging elephants on numerous occasions when I lived in the Ayutthaya and Lopburi areas. On one occasion at a festival in Ayutthaya, a couple of handlers and their juvenile elephant were making the rounds trying to get visitors to buy their cane snacks to feed it. When I indicated politely that I was not interested, one of the young punks gave a command to the elephant which then proceeded to rub it's trunk dripping with snot all over my shirt.

So when I see a story about these guys, who no doubt were pestering the beach-goers to pay for their services, it does make me wonder if there was some kind of command given to annoy or frighten the victims after they refused, and in this case that might have got out of control.

It brings about a smile of satisfaction when I read about these guys getting fined and/or banged up.

Unfortunate that these victims got hurt and hope they recover quickly. As for the elephant, hopefully it will have a better life away from the two 'handlers'.

My last encounter with elephants was in a village in darkest Issan, two of the fuckers wheeled and came trotting at me as soon as their mahouts saw me egged on by the screams of Falang Falang! I got on my bike and was off in a shot, I stay well clear of those beasts I've heard too many tales of folks getting injured by them.

Where I live it is believed if one passes under an elephants belly 3 times they will have good luck. An incident waiting to happen.

Originally Posted by Pragmatic

Where I live it is believed if one passes under an elephants belly 3 times they will have good luck. An incident waiting to happen.

It amazes me when I see tourists doing that stupid dance with death, fkin idiots.

I was a idiot years ago, laying on the floor and letting the mahout do his circus act on me.

Brakes failed again.

Originally Posted by Sumocakewalk

"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.

Went to Camel Bar in Ban Chang (Rayong Province) for dinner this evening and the elephant was there as usual.

Originally Posted by BobR

Went to Camel Bar in Ban Chang (Rayong Province) for dinner this evening and the elephant was there as usual.

Was she in the corner?

Originally Posted by VocalNeal

Originally Posted by BobR

Went to Camel Bar in Ban Chang (Rayong Province) for dinner this evening and the elephant was there as usual.

Was she in the corner?

No, just in the room.

I wonder what the police records were on the two men involved.
Possibly the elephant recognized the two from a previous altercation a few months back.

At least the elephant didn't pull out a handgun and shoot them in the head ...something that is done regularly in Isaan and elsewhere.

4 days from buriram with an elephant! Thats some going...

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