Elephant rampage devastates village in Chanthaburi province
A group of wild elephants recently stormed a village in Khlong Daeng, Chanthaburi province, causing significant damage to a house and rubber plantation. This incident followed merely two days after a young male elephant was shot and killed in the area.
Residents alerted local police after several elephants invaded the village, wreaking havoc by destroying a house and toppling numerous rubber trees. The incident occurred in Moo 12, Pawa subdistrict, Kaeng Hang Maeo district.
The village head, Wandee Dokdin, along with his assistant and a team tracking the elephants, promptly arrived at the scene to assess the situation.
Upon arrival, they discovered a single-storey wooden house with a tiled roof that had been almost entirely demolished by the elephants. The structure lay in ruins, close to the site where the young elephant had been shot days earlier.
Fortunately, the rubber tappers were out working at the time, narrowly escaping harm. Around the area, deep footprints of the elephants were visible, and the rubber trees were either flattened or bore marks of being gored by the elephants’ tusks.
Sukrit Iemchit, a former village head, stated that residents in Moo 9, Pawa subdistrict, live in constant fear due to frequent elephant invasions. The elephants not only consume crops but also cause extensive damage by knocking over trees and plants. This disruption has reached a point where nearly all plantations have been affected.
Wild elephants
Rubber plantation owners are reluctant to risk their lives by entering their fields, as the presence of elephants is unpredictable. In Moo 9 alone, groups of 20 to 30 elephants invade nearly every other day.
While a few local elephants do not harm crops or people, most of the herd is uncontrollable. Sukrit urged the government to address this issue seriously, suggesting the construction of standardised elephant trenches or barriers to ensure the safety of residents and their property.
“We need the government to step in and solve this issue with proper measures. Constructing standardised elephant barriers can help protect our lives and property from these frequent invasions,” he said.
Further information revealed that the young male elephant was found dead on December 24 in a rubber plantation near the entrance to the Wat Pa Khao Phai monastery, on the boundary of Moo 8 and Moo 9, Khun Song subdistrict. A veterinarian conducted an autopsy, retrieving bullets for forensic examination, reported KhaoSod.
Investigators are now calling in rubber plantation caretakers and nearby residents to gather more information, particularly from those owning weapons and ammunition that match the evidence collected at the scene and from the elephant’s carcass. Police are intensifying efforts to track down and apprehend the perpetrators responsible for the elephant’s death.
