A man was killed after being attacked by an elephant while collecting dung at a palm oil plantation in Ao Luek district, Krabi, Thailand, on 25 June 2026. The victim, identified as Somchai, 49, from Ao Luek Tai in Krabi, was found unconscious at the scene with multiple injuries before later dying at Ao Luek Hospital.

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Police at Ao Luek station received a report of a person injured by an elephant at a plantation in Moo 6, Ao Luek Tai subdistrict, Ao Luek district. Emergency responders from the Sawang Krabi Ao Luek Rescue Unit and the municipal emergency medical team in Laem Sak were sent to the location.

At the scene, rescuers found Somchai lying unconscious beside a female elephant identified as Pang Chao Saen, aged around 30 years. The elephant was tied up at the plantation site. Emergency teams moved the animal away before providing first aid to the victim and transporting him to hospital, where he was later pronounced dead. He suffered multiple severe injuries.

Initial police investigations found that Somchai worked as a farmer and general labourer. Before the incident, he had gone to the plantation to collect elephant dung for use as compost fertiliser. At the time, the elephant’s mahout was not present.

Investigators believe the victim approached too closely to the elephant while it was unattended by its handler. The animal is thought to have become startled or threatened, leading it to attack the man.

Police and rescue workers secured the area while ensuring the elephant was restrained and moved away so that medical assistance could be safely given. Officers have since begun collecting statements from the mahout to establish the full sequence of events.

Naewna reported that further inquiries are ongoing to determine the precise circumstances leading up to the attack and whether additional safety measures are required at the plantation.

Picture courtesy of Naewna

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Adapted by ASEAN Now Naewna 27 June 2026

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RIP, sir. 🌹

Rule #1 of collecting elephant dung: make sure the elephant has already left the meeting.

The power of even just an Asian elephant is incredible and the though of being flung about or trampled by one isn't a particularly pleasant one.
Nasty way to go.

Right up there with a shark attack, or by a large, land-based, apex predator.

On my drives north to Nong Khai and Bueng Kan, I travel via the Nam Nao National Park. There are several signs along this 90-odd km road warning of elephants crossing.

Although I have yet to see one, the closest I have is driving past a still-steaming pile of dung on the roadside.

I have - as, no doubt, you would have as well - read on more than one occasion of a car full of people ploughing into an elephant at some considerable speed, killing the occupants of said car while the beast walks away with a bruised leg or whatever.
So one drives attentively, minimising the risk.

Surely, one would think a person working amongst or even just nearby elephants - as a farmer/labourer in the area - would know not to get too close, yes? I liken it to sticking one's hand blindly into a hole and hoping one gets a turtle and not a viper.

Never get between a Thai woman and food. Same goes for elephants and their own poop. Acquired taste, I hear

When elephants were still allowed in Bangkok, I used to collect their poop for my garden. Lovely stuff!

30 minutes ago, unblocktheplanet said:

When elephants were still allowed in Bangkok, I used to collect their poop for my garden. Lovely stuff!

When I first arrived here, about 16 years ago, I remember seeing elephants regularly using the overpass on highways just south of Bangkok. Also did some filming at the Royal Elephant Kraal in Ayutthaya and remember getting low angles of an elephant tethered by chain and a spike in the ground. Didn't seem to me like that spike would do more than serve as an elephant's version of a flail if it got angry.

Should have taken a photo, but we had an elephant wandering around outside our rear garden just last week........I assume someone was hawking it around the villages for money.