Blanca Ojanguren García picture courtesy of Pinoalbar Development School and Sky News

 

By Bob Scott

 

Police in Thailand have charged the mahout responsible for the elephant that gored a Spanish woman to death last week in Koh Yao. The deadly incident has since ramped up intense scrutiny of Thailand’s elephant tourism industry.

 

The 38 year old mahout, Theerayut Inthaphudkij, faces charges of negligence causing death after a tragic accident involving the 22 year old Spanish tourist in southern Thailand.

 

The victim, Blanca Ojanguren García, was enjoying what should have been a memorable experience, bathing an elephant at the Koh Yao Elephant Care Centre. However, the day took a horrifying turn when the elephant, a 45 year old female named Phang Somboon, suddenly attacked, fatally injuring her.

 

This grim event has cast a spotlight on the ethics and safety of Thailand’s booming elephant tourism sector, which has long faced criticism from animal rights advocates. These activists argue that activities like elephant bathing can disrupt the creatures’ natural behaviours and inflict undue stress.

 

Experts suggest that the elephant may have been stressed by her interactions with tourists, potentially triggering the fatal attack. García’s grief-stricken boyfriend, who was with her during the incident, witnessed the tragic event unfold as the elephant’s tusk inflicted a fatal head injury. Despite being rushed to hospital, Blanca succumbed to her injuries.

 

 

 

According to World Animal Protection, nearly 3,000 elephants are held in tourist attractions throughout Thailand. PETA Senior Vice President Jason Baker issued a stark warning in response to this incident, highlighting the inherent dangers to both humans and animals involved in such close interactions.

 

“Any ‘sanctuary’ that permits human contact with elephants poses critical risks.”

 

This is not the first time negligence charges have been filed against mahouts. A similar tragedy occurred in 2017, when an elephant in Pattaya killed a Chinese tour guide, leading to charges against the camp owner and a mahout, reported the BBC. Another alarming incident in 2013 saw an elephant’s tusks cut following a fatal attack.

 

García was a promising law and international relations student at Spain’s University of Navarra, participating in a student exchange programme in Taiwan. Her tragic death occurred only days after she and her boyfriend arrived in Thailand on December 26.

 

Spain’s Foreign Minister, Jose Manuel Albares, has confirmed that the Spanish consulate in Bangkok is providing assistance to Blanca’s family during this heart-wrenching time.

 

RELATED STORY: Spanish student dies after being attacked by elephant in Thailand 

 

Source: The Thaiger

-- 2025-01-08

 

 

Using elephants as some kind of fun for tourists should be banned! These animals are intelligent and I am not surprised they sometimes just lose it and goes berserk! I do not feel sorry for anyone being hurt or killed by these magnificent animals! Stop using them! It is not fun!!!

12 hours ago, webfact said:

Any ‘sanctuary’ that permits human contact with elephants poses critical risks.”

Well that's just about all of them in Thailand... tourists beware

Elephants are slaves in Thailand used for profit 

12 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

Well that's just about all of them in Thailand... tourists beware

Elephants are slaves in Thailand used for profit 

From: World Animal Protection

https://www.worldanimalprotection.org/latest/blogs/thailand-elephants/

What is the most humane elephant sanctuary in Thailand?

To help you decide where you can appreciate elephants in Thailand, we’ve compiled a list of the most responsible elephant sanctuaries we’ve found in our extensive research.

• ChangChill
• Boon Lott's Elephant Sanctuary 
• Burm and Emily's Elephant Sanctuary
• Following Giants
• Global Vision International
• Kindred Spirit Elephant Sanctuary
• Mahouts Elephant Foundation
• Somboon Legacy Foundation

Explain to me how this mahout isn't just being used as a convenient scapegoat for the sins of an entire industry?

No need to reexamine the entire industry if you can pin it on one presumably not powerful man. 

Adults form the western world,  messing around with animals in captivity

Should know better now days.

 

The mahout is just an escape goat as well.

5 minutes ago, quake said:

Adults form the western world,  messing around with animals in captivity

Should know better now days.

 

The mahout is just an escape goat as well.

The mahout should be charged !!!  the abuse that the mahout hands out to these wild animals is unforgivable and the goverment, for not protecting the elephants from this industries.

Training elephants to perform tricks and activities for tourists is both unnatural and harmful. ‘Trainers’ use cruel, punishment-based training, including hitting them with sticks or sharp metal objects.

Elephants are often kept in isolation. Elephants are very social, so separating young elephants from their mothers causes severe trauma, especially when they are then restrained with chains to exhaust them while they become used to being isolated.

1 hour ago, Jingthing said:

Explain to me how this mahout isn't just being used as a convenient scapegoat for the sins of an entire industry?

No need to reexamine the entire industry if you can pin it on one presumably not powerful man. 

That's exactly what he's being used for. 

Freakin elephants are 2 tons of danger with some lunatic on their head.

20 minutes ago, Slocum said:

Who makes the law ?  It's known that elephant can go berserk anywhere and time.. recently a incident happened in Sri Lanka....without intimidated...Law are made to benefits the industry..elephant are not mechanical.....the point here is they are charging the mahout.... proved it that safety can be guaranteed...Talking is cheap....show us it's safety proof....

wow  Did you ever go to school ??  to educate you "Laws are made by the people for the people" not for the industry  And again to educate safety is everyones responsibility   and this is not the first time a mahout  has been charged with negligence, safety can be guaranteed  if venues are changed to observation-only, the following venues are observation only .

• ChangChill
• Boon Lott's Elephant Sanctuary 
• Burm and Emily's Elephant Sanctuary
• Following Giants
• Global Vision International
• Kindred Spirit Elephant Sanctuary
• Mahouts Elephant Foundation
• Somboon Legacy Foundation

Thais should be ashamed on how they treat elephants

not everything is about money!!

4 minutes ago, MikeandDow said:

wow  Did you ever go to school ??  to educate you "Laws are made by the people for the people" not for the industry  And again to educate safety is everyones responsibility   and this is not the first time a mahout  has been charged with negligence, safety can be guaranteed  if venues are change to observation-only, you need to think before you post

O..Yes..I do go to school..but I also do think outside the box...and not walk a straight line.......law are made by people and are meant to change... also....if it's not correct....law are not only for people but also for the industry...it's true, not the first time mahout are charge....trying to make a scapegoat out of a no body...

..

1 hour ago, quake said:

Adults form the western world,  messing around with animals in captivity

Should know better now days.

 

The mahout is just an escape goat as well.

Using goats as mahouts now !! ….. where will it end ?

13 minutes ago, Slocum said:

O..Yes..I do go to school..but I also do think outside the box...and not walk a straight line.......law are made by people and are meant to change... also....if it's not correct....law are not only for people but also for the industry...it's true, not the first time mahout are charge....trying to make a scapegoat out of a no body...

..

if you think outside of the box. Why do you think they are charging the mahout !!! 

No, laws are not made to benefit industry alone, but to benefit society as a whole:

• Protect the environment: Laws and regulations can help prevent businesses from harming the environment by discharging toxic materials or polluting. For example, factories that burn coal are required to install scrubbers to reduce pollution.

• Protect workers: Laws and regulations can help protect workers from unsafe working conditions, long hours, and other physical or mental harm.
• Promote economic stability: Laws and regulations can help promote economic stability by providing legal certainty and a framework for responsible behavior.
• Protect individual rights: Laws and regulations can help protect individual rights.
• Ensure fairness: Laws and regulations can help ensure fairness in business transactions.
• Provide legal remedies: Laws and regulations can provide legal remedies for disputes between businesses and their customers or employees.
• Save lives: Government regulations can save lives. For example, seat belts and air bags have saved many lives.

3 minutes ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

Using goats as mahouts now !! ….. where will it end ?

 

Come on now.

You can't make jokes on this thread.

The keyboard worriers are out in force here.

I love Chang's,  the green bottle ones,  that is. 

 

14 hours ago, webfact said:

The 38 year old mahout, Theerayut Inthaphudkij, faces charges of negligence causing death after a tragic accident involving the 22 year old Spanish tourist in southern Thailand.

How about all the owners of dangerous dogs who mauled innocent passerby?

4 minutes ago, Ben Zioner said:

How about all the owners of dangerous dogs who mauled innocent passerby?

I belive they are!!  many news articles about dogs mauling people and owners being held accoutable  or do you not keep up with the news ??

15 hours ago, webfact said:

The 38 year old mahout, Theerayut Inthaphudkij, faces charges of negligence causing death after a tragic accident involving the 22 year old Spanish tourist in southern Thailand.

Right - men can actually control the actions of elephants 100%.  The Thai government is going to throw him under the bus.  If I was a elephant caretaker, I'd be looking for jobs that didn't interact with tourists.

2 hours ago, harryviking said:

Using elephants as some kind of fun for tourists should be banned!

I agree 100%. Elephants should stay in the forests with minimal interaction with people.

2 minutes ago, connda said:

Right - men can actually control the actions of elephants 100%.  The Thai government is going to throw him under the bus.  If I was a elephant caretaker, I'd be looking for jobs that didn't interact with tourists.

And i think that is the whole point, Change the way the industry is run, more and more elephant sanctuary are changing to observation-only

2 hours ago, harryviking said:

Using elephants as some kind of fun for tourists should be banned! These animals are intelligent and I am not surprised they sometimes just lose it and goes berserk! I do not feel sorry for anyone being hurt or killed by these magnificent animals! Stop using them! It is not fun!!!

Of course, tourists put themselves into the position to get gored all the time.  I see it on the Chiang Mai forum on Facebook. 
"My husband and I and our three children are coming to Thailand and want to bath elephants at an "ethical" elephant sanctuary."

There is no such thing. And tourist demand fuels the continued exploitation of elephants as a kind of fun sideshow.  Then someone gets killed.
"IT'S THE MAHOUT'S FAULT."
Gotta toss someone under the bus instead of shutting the entire nonsense down.

Let's not even talk about the places where tourists can "pet" sedated tigers. 
Freaking fools.

47 minutes ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

Using goats as mahouts now !! ….. where will it end ?

555. Someone had to comment.

2 minutes ago, connda said:

Of course, tourists put themselves into the position to get gored all the time.  I see it on the Chiang Mai forum on Facebook. 
"My husband and I and our three children are coming to Thailand and want to bath elephants at an "ethical" elephant sanctuary."

There is no such thing. And tourist demand fuels the continued exploitation of elephants as a kind of fun sideshow.  Then someone gets killed.
"IT'S THE MAHOUT'S FAULT."
Gotta toss someone under the bus instead of shutting the entire nonsense down.

Let's not even talk about the places where tourists can "pet" sedated tigers. 
Freaking fools.

Agree there are no "ethical" elephant sanctuary." but there are observation-only,  and i belive the mahout should be held resonible,he was there to ensure the safety of the animal as well as the tourist   and yes should shut the whole thing down to a degee elephants are an "endangered species" and require our help to survive

and yes lets not talk about the tigers !!

Elephants can be dangerous and unpredictable for tourists unless you know how to handle them.  I once encountered a wild one during a night of heavy drinking in Chiang Mai.  To avoid being crushed I went into mahout mode and after a few lashes from a stick and some barked commands the big girl became quite docile and allowed me to ride her.   This was repeated for several memorable nights until she had to go back to the UK for uni.

10 minutes ago, Oliver Holzerfilled said:

Elephants can be dangerous and unpredictable for tourists unless you know how to handle them.  I once encountered a wild one during a night of heavy drinking in Chiang Mai.  To avoid being crushed I went into mahout mode and after a few lashes from a stick and some barked commands the big girl became quite docile and allowed me to ride her.   This was repeated for several memorable nights until she had to go back to the UK for uni.

That is zooerasty and against the law

23 minutes ago, MikeandDow said:

Agree there are no "ethical" elephant sanctuary." but there are observation-only,  and i belive the mahout should be held resonible,he was there to ensure the safety of the animal as well as the tourist   and yes should shut the whole thing down to a degee elephants are an "endangered species" and require our help to survive

and yes lets not talk about the tigers !!

 

Yes, lie down and cuddle with a tiger and get your picture taken......Ummmm....NO!

That's a bit different from the original story, of simply 'knock over by trunk', and really didn't seem correct to me.  From original ...

 

... "In a sudden turn, the elephant used its trunk to knock Garcia over, resulting in severe injuries" ...

 

I guess they couldn't hide the truth forever 

 

How any are allowed to be in existence is mind blowing ...

... corruption rules 😎

8 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

That's a bit different from the original story, of simply 'knock over by trunk', and really didn't seem correct to me.  From original ...

 

... "In a sudden turn, the elephant used its trunk to knock Garcia over, resulting in severe injuries" ...

 

I guess they couldn't hide the truth forever 

 

How any are allowed to be in existence is mind blowing ...

... corruption rules 😎

How any are allowed to be in existence is mind blowing ...

... corruption rules 😎      do not understand what u are trying to say ????  do you mean elephants

16 hours ago, webfact said:

The victim, Blanca Ojanguren García, was enjoying what should have been a memorable experience, bathing an elephant at the Koh Yao Elephant Care Centre

 

So the mahout is the scapegoat for the Koh Yao Elephant Care Centre?

18 minutes ago, lordgrinz said:

 

So the mahout is the scapegoat for the Koh Yao Elephant Care Centre?

And so he should be !! he was negligent,  did not control the animal as was his job, as for the Koh Yao Elephant Care Centre they by allowing unskilled persons to bath a wild elephant they should be charged aswell

Says a female elephant gored her, but only males have tusks. What little I've seen of elephants here (in Pai), the herds accessible by the public were all female. When the gf asked why, the mahout said they have trouble hiring mahouts otherwise. 

2 minutes ago, RoyLee said:

Says a female elephant gored her, but only males have tusks. What little I've seen of elephants here (in Pai), the herds accessible by the public were all female. When the gf asked why, the mahout said they have trouble hiring mahouts otherwise. 

 

 

Maybe the elephant was a ladyboy.... or the female elephant had larger than normal tushes !