RAMPAGING elephants are leaving a trail of terror in Thailand amid a worrying surge in fatal attacks in the country.
The beasts have been running riot on roads, storming into tourist areas and even breaking into homes as they plague the elephant attack capital of the world – with tourists to blame, experts told The Sun.
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A report in February claimed at least 150 people in Thailand were killed due to wild elephant related attacks since 2018.
More than 133 were also injured, according to Thailand’s Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation.
Many of these were tourists in the southern part of the country.
The number of horror incidents in the south have only increased overtime – and coincide with Thailand seeing a huge increase in wild elephant issues.
As well as brutal attacks on humans, they have been seen blocking up entire roads in their mammoth herds, squashing cars and springing towards defenceless tourists before swiping at them.
In one of the most jaw-dropping ordeals, 50 of the huge animals decided to saunter across a highway in Chachoengsao – leaving humans forced to watch on and wait.
But for one motorist the terror became a little too close to comfort when a seven-tonne bull elephant sat down on his car.
The 34-year-old, known as Duea, wagged his tail before lying his front legs completely across a dwarfed car in Khao Yai National Park.
A young couple were later left in disbelief when their dinner was interrupted by a big brute forcing his head through a kitchen wall.
Provinces like Nakhon Ratchasima, Phang Nga and Hua Hin are all seeing increases in the number of human and elephant conflicts, according to local reports.
Incidents have become so frequent and terrifying that locals have started to arm themselves with ping-pong “bombs” to scare away the beasts.
One of the reasons for the rise in attacks is thought to be related to the number of them being forced into captivity, Humane Society International told The Sun.
In Thailand, there are more animals working in tourism and logging industries than left in the wild.
Tourists should never ride an elephant in any situation. Elephants won’t naturally wish to have a human ride on their back
Adam Peyman
Hundreds are also trapped in zoos and circus-style environments.
An estimated 3,000 of the giant beasts are domesticated across the country – and just 2,200 are allowed to freely roam in the wild.
Elephants are stripped from their normal habitats and forced to live in small enclosures covered in ropes and chains by their new handlers.
They are then made to dance, gallop and even carry tourists on their backs.
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This industry is seen as fuelling the elephant handlers’ ambition to keep on allowing rides to happen so they can keep lining their own pockets.
The practice of elephant rides have been slammed by animal rights groups for years with many labelling it as a form of torture.
Animal rights group PETA say elephants working in captivity “have been torn from their jungle homes to be sold like equipment”.
The group say they are “forced to haul illegal logs or entertain tourists”.
It is the abusive industry in which they are held captive that is ultimately to blame and tourists have a key role to play in stopping that by refusing to participate in such cruel activities
Adam Peyman
Adam Peyman, director of wildlife programs at Humane Society International, called on tourists to understand they are doing more harm than good.
He said: “When people get injured or killed by elephants, of course it’s a human tragedy but it’s important to understand the underlying abuse, exploitation or cruel treatment that the elephants have often endured that have led up to that unfortunate event.
Peyman said elephants forced into captivity and babies ripped away from their herd can “exhibit aggression out of frustration and fear”.
Humane Society International found aggressive elephant cases come from elephants forced to perform for tourists.
“That can result in injury or worse to themselves, other elephants and of course people,” Peyman said.
“It is the abusive industry in which they are held captive that is ultimately to blame, not the elephants.
“Tourists have a key role to play in stopping that by refusing to participate in such cruel activities.”
Peyman also noted the rise in wild elephant attacks and again laid the blame on greedy humans.
“Where wild elephants exhibit aggression, the wider context to that can often be that their natural habitat has been reduced through human activity creating competition for land and resources such as elephants eating a farmer’s crops,” he said.
“This in turn can spark violent retaliations such as throwing firecrackers or stones at a herd, that can lead to elephants learning to be fearful and defensive towards humans.”
Sumanth Bindumadhav Director of Wildlife Protection for Humane Society International based in Asia agreed, saying “elephant habitats and corridors are shrinking rapidly”.
This is therefore increasing the number of meetings between man and beast in which “a proportion can be negative”.
TOURIST ‘TORTURE’
For decades, humans have been riding on elephants for their own enjoyment with it even being advertised as a tourist treat.
But, shocking pictures have shown the devastating impact it can cause for the animal and just how brutal it can be.
Elephant Pai Lin spent more than 25 years in Thailand’s trekking industry, being forced to give rides for up to six tourists at a time.
The result on Pai’s body has been disastrous with her spine now visibly deformed.
The life of an elephant used for rides is a miserable one involving being tethered and controlled
Adam Peyman
Payman gave a clear message to tourists saying they should stop lining the pockets of those handlers exploiting the elephants.
He said: “Tourists should never ride an elephant in any situation, no matter what their handler may tell them. Elephants won’t naturally wish to have a human ride on their back.
“They do so after being ‘broken’ using violent methods to which they eventually submit, and the life of an elephant used for rides is a miserable one involving being tethered and controlled.
“The best place to see elephants is where they belong, in the wild.”
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A baby elephant, thought to be just aged one, was seen collapsing from exhaustion after being chained up to his mum as she gave rides to tourists.
The calf had a rope around its neck before rolling around on the hot floor.
The elephant exploits aren’t just limited to rides – even five-star resorts in the country have been slammed by animal activists for using elephants as entertainment.
Guests at Mövenpick Bangtao Beach in Phuket were able to pet a baby calf who they had dressed up in a white outfit at a pool party.
Some labelled it as “gross mistreatment” as others said the baby was being “controlled by fear” after getting ripped away from its mother.
THE BRUTAL CRUSH
In Thailand, elephants are often seen performing for paying humans by dancing and prancing around a dusty clearing.
One way elephant handlers achieve this is through a device called the crush.
The medieval torture-style device is used to make elephants submissive enough to act on command and take tourists on rides.
Peyman said: “Elephants will be forced to train, often using negative control methods such as beating and chaining.”
Sickening footage shows elephants being hooked up to the device by ropes and bull-hooks stabbed into their heads.
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Often the chains and ropes used can stress the animal, leading to potentially fatal accidents.
PETA have found that Thai elephants are often kept on short chains and repeatedly stabbed and beaten into submission.
The group studied elephants at various zoos and found many had bloodied wounds on them.
Zookeepers were also filmed allegedly jabbing them with short, sharp spikes to make them perform tricks or give rides to tourists.
Unable to socialise with each other, isolated elephants are suffering from psychological distress, say PETA.
FATAL THAI ATTACKS
Back in 2022, a raging elephant ripped its handler’s body in half with its formidable tusks after being forced to haul wood in a heatwave.
Supachai Wongtin, 32, was killed by a 20-year-old male named Pom Pam after he became irritated carrying heavy logs through the jungle.
The elephant had been working for four days straight when he gored the caretaker in Phang Nga province in Thailand.
Police found the man’s body torn apart as pictures show his arms and legs detached from his torso.
They grab you, they slap you to a tree, sometimes they make sure you’re dead by stepping on you or using their tusks
Taan Wannagul
Other terrifying videos show elephants swiping at their human handlers and sending them flying through the air.
One tragic incident saw Rachan Theerapittayatrakul suffering multiple fractures after being whacked by a female elephant’s trunk.
She was then trampled to death by the 28-year-old wild animal named Cherry.
Cherry was tied up to a tree when she lashed out at a human after years of being forced to carry tourists on her back.
World’s worst elephant attacks
THE SERIAL KILLER
In 2006, an elephant named Osama bin Laden slaughtered 27 people in northeast India before he was finally shot dead.
He was accused of savagely killing 14 villagers in just one month.
The 10ft beast terrorised villagers for two years, destroying hundreds of homes and crushing dozens of people to death – prompting locals to name him after the evil al-Qaeda leader.
SAFARI SNIPE
A rampaging elephant chased a safari truck before flipping it in Zambia – killing an elderly tourist.
The big beast used its three-foot tusks to hook under the truck and flip it onto its side as the terrified tourists screamed and clung to their seats.
A woman from the US, 80, was killed in the incident as another tourist was seriously injured and four others had minor injuries.
FESTIVAL CHAOS
In 2018, horrifying footage showed an elephant killing his trainer before goring several worshippers at an Indian festival.
During the festival, one of the elephants loses its cool and throws the four people riding it – including the trainer – to the ground.
As horrified onlookers begin to flee the grounds, the male bull starts hurling them about with his trunk and tusks like rag dolls.
The elephant then tramples the helpless trainer, killing him.
DISEMBOWELLED
A man was disemboweled and trampled to death by an elephant in Makueni, Kenya in 2020.
Charles Mutisya, 73, was brutally killed while tending to his farm at 7am one morning in December.
The elderly man was found with his “intestines hanging outside the stomach”.
TEMPLE OF DOOM
A temple worker was stomped to death by a wild elephant while taking a stroll In Hua Hin, Thailand.
Prasit Kanchanasilanon, 58, was found lying face-down in a pool of blood in front of the monks’ living quarters, according to the Bangkok Post.
He had suffered a fractured skull and a number of other horrific injuries.
CRUSHING BLOW
A furious elephant crushed a man to death after a crowd of workers teased a herd passing through a tea plantation with loud noises.
The swarm of workers started taunting and chasing the elephants in a bid to scare them off by shouting and honking car horns.
After darting towards the workers, the huge Indian elephant made a beeline for a man who had stumbled by the roadside while trying to escape before trampling him to death.
PAIR OF WILD BEASTS
At least one man was killed in southern India when two wild elephants went on a three-hour rampage leaving behind a trail of carnage.
A 55-year-old security guard was trampled to death after he came out of his house to see what was going on amid the widespread panic.
Horrific footage showed the bloodied body of the man after being repeatedly gored, butted and trampled in a doorway.
Taan Wannagul, a researcher at the Eastern Elephants Education Centre, told the Telegraph: “They grab you, they slap you to a tree, sometimes they make sure you’re dead by stepping on you or using their tusks.
“They can play with bodies like it’s a doll.”
A temple worker was also trampled to death by a wild elephant while taking a stroll at a temple in Hua Hin, Thailand earlier this year.
Prasit Kanchanasilanon, 58, was found lying face-down in a pool of blood in front of the monks’ living quarters, according to the Bangkok Post.
Not only are the humans suffering from the fed-up beasts but so are the elephants as over 92 were killed in the same period.
A young elephant, called Dumbo, died after its back legs snapped when it was forced to perform for tourists at a zoo.
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