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  1. #1
    Thailand Expat misskit's Avatar
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    Hard times for owner of elephant that killed tourist

    BURI RAM: Peng Yimram has had a hard time making ends meet since his elephant - he calls her Cherry - killed a man at a jungle hotel in the Khao Yai area last month.

    Mr Peng, 51, and his 28-year-old elephant returned to their home in Satuk disrict, in the north of Buri Ram province, after the management of the hotel where they worked said they were no longer welcome, reports the Bangkok Post.


    They have been unemployed since.


    Cherry trampled to death a man in front of the Jungle House Khaoyai resort, near Thanarat Rd in Pak Chong district of Nakhon Ratchasima, in mid-April.


    The elephant is now chained up in the grounds of Wat Pa Ban Khok Moo-Ban Phai in Tambon Satuk.


    The area is shaded by trees and there is fresh grass she can browse. But they have no work.


    Mr Peng said Cherry is very quiet and seems lonely since being parted from her friends in Khao Yai. He said she is not dangerous, but he has put a sign anyway warning people to keep away from her.


    But without work he has no money, and she is short of food.


    His elephant needs about 100 kilogrammes of food a day, which would cost B400-500 ‒ money he does not have. He previously earned B10,000-20,000 a month from tourists, and this was enough for them both to survive, he said.


    Now, she relies on gifts of bananas and sugarcane from villagers, and a little cash from the occasional tourist, but it’s not enough. He desperately hopes things will improve and he can get work again after the COVID-19 situation improves.


    Asked about the tragedy in Pak Chong, Mr Peng said people must not approach any elephant unattended by its owner. An elephant was likely to attack strangers, especially if it was in a bad mood, he said.


    On Apr 15 his elephant Cherry trampled to death a municipal worker, Rachan Theerapittayatrakul, 55, who moved in too close and tried to give her food on the roadside outside the Jungle House Khaoyai resort.


    Mr Rachan was on holiday with his wife and daughters.


    Mr Peng told police he had left the elephant there to graze and trim the grass outside the hotel.


    Hard times for owner of elephant that killed tourist

  2. #2
    Thailand Expat russellsimpson's Avatar
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    So, a pit bull walks free after ripping its owners throat out while an elephant who excusably tramples a tourist is banished to the outskirts of humanity.

    Go figure.

  3. #3
    Hangin' Around cyrille's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by russellsimpson View Post
    a pit bull walks free
    You would have favoured incarceration?

    Or maybe an ankle tag?

  4. #4
    Days Work Done! Norton's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by russellsimpson View Post
    excusably tramples a brain dead tourist
    Cherry was just caressing the fool with her toes.


  5. #5
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    MarilynMonroe's Avatar
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    So sad... how he doesn't have much to survive and enough for the elephant.

    People don't realize that elephants are wild and if you get too close to it like any wild animal it could attack.
    I remember visiting an Elephant camp in Chiang Mai, these elephants were super trained, and did things like play the harmonica, dance on one foot and even gave me a massage with their paw.. I was the stupid volunteer to get a massage (lucky I didn't get trampled on).

  6. #6
    Hangin' Around cyrille's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MarilynMonroe View Post
    People don't realize that elephants are wild and if you get too close to it like any wild animal it could attack.
    I remember visiting an Elephant camp in Chiang Mai, these elephants were super trained, and did things like play the harmonica, dance on one foot and even gave me a massage with their paw..
    Yes, clearly the general public isn’t as knowledgeable. Such close contact with an elephant paw is rare.

  7. #7
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    I remember seeing elephant beggars in the past. Sounds like this couple has suffered a similar fate.

  8. #8
    Thailand Expat Saint Willy's Avatar
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    ^^ Elephant paw? Good pick up, Cy.

    Quote Originally Posted by MarilynMonroe View Post
    So sad... how he doesn't have much to survive and enough for the elephant.

    People don't realize that elephants are wild and if you get too close to it like any wild animal it could attack.
    I remember visiting an Elephant camp in Chiang Mai, these elephants were super trained, and did things like play the harmonica, dance on one foot and even gave me a massage with their paw.. I was the stupid volunteer to get a massage (lucky I didn't get trampled on).

    luckily it was super trained, huh? Or were these not wild elephants? Or people shouldn’t get too close except for massages or ...my brain hurts reading your posts, MM.

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