Elephant brutally kills mahout in southern Thailand

An elephant went into a violent frenzy and killed its mahout (elephant trainer) in Phang Nga province in southern Thailand yesterday. Officials believe that Jojo the elephant turned on its owner because it was fed up with work.

Jojo both trampled on his owner and stabbed him with his tusks numerous times, said rescue workers.

Officers from Kapong Police Station were informed that an elephant killed a mahout at Wassana Elephant Camp in Rommanee subdistrict.

Police and rescue workers from the Sawang Mek Takuapa Rescue Unit travelled to the elephant camp where they found the body of 35 year old Suwit Paengprachan in the forest.

Rescue workers said that Suwit had been trampled on and there were tusk stab wounds “all over his body.”

Jojo is a working elephant at the camp and officials suspect that he had enough of working and turned on Suwit.

At Wassana Elephant Camp, tourists can ride on the backs of elephants. Some tourists have criticised the camp for chaining up elephants next to a busy road and making them do tricks, while others have praised the camp.

Staff at Wassana Elephant Camp managed to calm down Jojo to ensure he doesn’t cause further damage.

Suwit’s body was taken to Kapong Chaipat Hospital to undergo an autopsy.

Elephants trample people to death quite regularly in Thailand. However, an elephant stabbing someone to death with its tusks is a rare occurrence.

In July, an elephant stabbed its mahout to death with its tusks in Nakhon Si Thammarat province and kept watch over his dead body for hours, police said.

Locals told police that the mahout had taken the elephant up a hill to work on a field in the hot sun. Police suspect the elephant was stressed from working and got mad at its mahout, eventually stabbing him to death.