Thread: Pattaya Elephant Park/Boy attacked by Gibbon

Monkeys aren’t all friendly A nine year old boy was rushed to the Bangkok Hospital Pattaya after a gibbon at the Pattaya elephant park thought the youngster was about to steal a stick. The family from Surin had brought their son to Pattaya as a school holiday treat and decided to visit the park.


The boy became interested in one of the gibbons which then dropped a stick on the ground. The youngster bent down to pick up the stick to return to the animal which mistakenly believed it was about to lose control of the game. So it attacked with alacrity. The mother Mrs Ternchai began screaming as there were no staff on hand to deal with the crisis. It was some minutes before help and transport arrived to rush the troubled lad to emergency care at the hospital where he was said to be recovering satisfactorily. The family complained bitterly about the lack of supervision at the park. A bystander said the one guard on duty had fled as he didn’t like monkeys in the first place. A spokesman for the elephant park said he had apologised to the family and to the boy for any carelessness on management’s part and confirmed that all costs would be paid by them. It was stressed that just because the gibbons look friendly, people should avoid having too much to do with them. Their scale of values and preoccupations may not be the same as yours.