Prachinburi: A wild elephant trampled a 53-year-old man to death in the forest of Thap Lan. In Prachinburi province, a wife, worried after her husband went into the forest to collect wild ginger flowers and didn’t return for dinner, went searching for him and tragically found him trampled to death by a wild elephant.
According to Thai News Agency, yesterday evening, the Sajjaputthatham Foundation in Kabin Buri received a report of a death in a bamboo forest in Moo 5, Thung Pho Subdistrict, Na Di District, Prachinburi Province, approximately 3 kilometers from the nearest community. They immediately dispatched a team, along with Na Di Police Station, forestry officials, community security volunteers (Chorob), and a wild elephant deterrent team. Initially, the Chorob and elephant deterrent teams found approximately 40 wild elephants foraging near the scene. They attempted to drive them away to clear a path for rescue workers, a forensic doctor, and police to retrieve the deceased’s body.
Upon investigation, it was determined that the deceased was Mr. Thiraichai, 53 years old, a villager who normally went up the mountain to collect wild ginger flowers every 2-3 days. Usually, he would return for lunch, but this time he was gone for a long time, causing his wife to become suspicious. When she went up the mountain to look for him, she heard dogs barking and found her husband lying dead in the middle of the forest. She believed he had been attacked by a wild elephant, and that he did not die from a pre-existing medical condition. She then notified the authorities to investigate and transport the body.
Retrieving the body was quite difficult because officials received the report in the evening. By the time they arrived at the scene, it was already dark. Furthermore, the mountainous area had no paved roads, only narrow ruts, requiring the use of off-road vehicles and dirt bikes to access the area before walking in to retrieve the body. However, officials documented the scene with photographs showing the deceased wearing a green long-sleeved shirt, gray long pants, and white sneakers. He was carrying a backpack containing a walkie-talkie, elephant repellent devices, and ping pong balls.
In addition to the fractured and deformed left and right arms, there was a large wound, approximately 20 centimeters long, on the left side of the chest resembling an elephant trampling. There was also a bleeding wound on the head and a broken neck.
Meanwhile, Prawatichart Chantrathep, a senior forestry expert and head of Thap Lan National Park, said that the deceased was a volunteer officer from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and also worked as a rubber tapper. He said that the deceased had always reported incidents involving elephants and was a diligent person. On the occasion of the incident, he may have gone to check if there were any elephants in the area, as there had been reports of two elephants coming down during the rainy season. It is possible that a dog was also present when he encountered the elephants, causing them to become startled and charge.
Furthermore, the head of Thap Lan National Park added that during the rainy season, more elephants come down to the forest, possibly because the weather is not too hot in the lower areas. During the dry season, most elephants stay in the forest, but some may venture out to the forest edges. Officials are trying every measure to monitor the elephants and are coordinating with community leaders to create elephant-blocking routes. They are also accelerating the restoration of the Pha Maen area, a deep forest zone in Prachinburi province, to create a lush and abundant forest in order to attract the elephants back into the area.