Wild elephant causes chaos in Thai shop, damages shelves
Nakhon Ratchasima shop owner faces over 1,000 baht damage after elephant visit
In Nakhon Ratchasima, a wild elephant from Khao Yai National Park surprised a local shop in Pak Chong district yesterday, June 2, causing chaos as it rummaged around for food, damaging shelves in the process.
The shop, located approximately one kilometre from a park entrance in Ban Tha Maprang, tambon Mu Si, witnessed the unexpected visit of the elephant, known as Plai Biang Lek, at around 3pm.
At the time, the shop owner was attending to a customer when the elephant entered the store. The owner and customer quickly left the premises and alerted the park authorities.
Park rangers, together with the shop owner, attempted to persuade the elephant to leave. Despite their efforts, Plai Biang Lek remained unbothered and continued using its trunk to search the shelves for food.
After about 10 minutes of encouragement, the elephant eventually returned to the forest without causing any injuries, reported Bangkok Post.
The shop owner estimated the cost of repairing the damaged shelves and replacing the lost items to exceed 1,000 baht, acknowledging that the situation could have been significantly worse.
In similar news, in Chanthaburi province, a local fruit orchard owned by two teachers has suffered extensive damage from wild elephants.
Nearly 30 durian trees, aged between 12 and 20 years, had been toppled. This destruction resulted in the loss of almost four tonnes of durian, leading to damages exceeding 400,000 baht. The area showed signs of the elephants’ presence, including scattered durian shells, large footprints, and dung.
The owners reported that while elephants had never invaded their orchard since their father established it, they began noticing invasions at the start of May, with a particularly destructive incident on the night of May 24.
In other wildlife news, Thai officials have launched a major operation to capture invasive iguanas causing disruption in central Thailand. From May 13 to 17, 94 free-roaming iguanas were caught on Khao Phraya Doen Dong Mountain in Lopburi province.
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