Thai Wife Of German Man Killed By Crazed Elephant In Rayong

[wilcopops]

A very sad occurance. My prayers to the grieving husband and famlily for their loss of the deceased lady. People are killed in auto accidents everyday, but we don't ban cars or gas stations. One should always be aware.that animals are unpredictable - be it your neighbor's pet dog, or these so-called tamed wild beasts.

If the elephant was caught from the wild and "tamed" - I believe this is illegal - even in Thailand.

Check out how baby elephants caught in the wild are "broken in" - it is probably one of the most heart-rending thins you'l ever see.

[youngXpat]

Very sad story. I remember years ago, a guy from the UK lost his wife to cancer I think and decided to bring his 2 daughters on the 'trip of a lifetime' to Thailand. They all went to Phuket for 2 weeks in the sun. He took them to an elephant show where one performing elephant went berserk, climbed the stands and gorged one of his daughters to death. Needless to say, I won't go near an elephant anymore.

I have been to that beach in Rayong many times. The mahoutas are also quite put back when one decides not to feed his animal.

Surely one must think that an animal that big and heavy is pretty much unstoppable. You always run the risk of severe if not fatal injury when near these animals. They ARE mistreated and occasionally do 'flip out'.

Sad, sad story.

[dighambara]

Elephants do not belong near civilisation, they need to be free. This animal did no go insane through heat. Most likely mistreatment as the reaction described is a distressed state. And feeding a few sticks of sugar cane - these animals need 50 kgs a day - this is clear cut cruelty to animals and this idiot mahout needs to be arrested, his animal confiscated and returned to its natural habitat.

Elephants have been domesticated as long as the horse, so your idea is that all animals should be in the wild and free to roam about.

Then we must concern ourselves with horse races, food for our children, and a starving world.

Utopia is a wonderful idea, but quite impractical.

[FarangKenStine]

If you mess with the bull, you may get the horns

[Monkeyrobot]

RIP for the poor lady, having a steel hook dug into the back of your ear and made to work for your food would piss me off. Over heated from a greedy Mahout will do the trick. There is a place you can see those 5 ton beasties it's called a zoo, the guy should be charged,jailed and made to pay compensation to the victims family.

[SPIKECM]

Tourists in general need to take a lot of the blame, as they are the ones creating the demand. They should stay well away from chained up animals like elephants, tigers, bears, etc. It's very cruel to treat animals this way for the amusement of tourists. And shame on all the tourists that perpetuate these cruelties. The cruelty is often obvious to see, bit most tourists just don't care, as long as they get their precious photo.

So you want to ban horse racing ?

It is difficult to end it all overnight. The only reason some of these animals are alive is because of tourists. These are massive attraction in Thailand and if everyone stopped going to see them, what on earth would be the elephant's fate?

Edited March 6, 2013 by SPIKECM

[moe666]

I stay away from any and all of these animals used to elicit money, they are wild animals and can go off on you are who ever is around. People who swim with dolphins are anothe group of idiots.

[transam]

Tourists in general need to take a lot of the blame, as they are the ones creating the demand. They should stay well away from chained up animals like elephants, tigers, bears, etc. It's very cruel to treat animals this way for the amusement of tourists. And shame on all the tourists that perpetuate these cruelties. The cruelty is often obvious to see, bit most tourists just don't care, as long as they get their precious photo.

So you want to ban horse racing ?

It is difficult to end it all overnight. The only reason some of these animals are alive is because of tourists. These are massive attraction in Thailand and if everyone stopped going to see them, what on earth would be the elephant's fate?

What would Thialand's fate be if the stuff folk come to see was banned. We have a Temple with Tigers to fool around with, the Elephants and those poor ''creatures'' that must sit out side a shop all day breathing in exhaust fumes to be abused by a fat bloke, you going to do something about those poor souls ? Noooooooooo of course not.

[rbrooks]

Obviously the baby elephant was distressed from being without its mother at such a young age. They are know to be with Mom like humans till around 10 years of age.

[Fookhaht]

The hot weather made the elephant insane or the treatment it had received from it's mahout?

A minimum amount of Googling (Binging, Yahoo-ing, whatever) certainly answers this rhetorical question. Hope they send the elephant for rehabilitation to a vet or zoo, and the mahout straight to prison for manslaughter.

[Fookhaht]

Tourists in general need to take a lot of the blame, as they are the ones creating the demand. They should stay well away from chained up animals like elephants, tigers, bears, etc. It's very cruel to treat animals this way for the amusement of tourists. And shame on all the tourists that perpetuate these cruelties. The cruelty is often obvious to see, bit most tourists just don't care, as long as they get their precious photo.

So you want to ban horse racing ?

It is difficult to end it all overnight. The only reason some of these animals are alive is because of tourists. These are massive attraction in Thailand and if everyone stopped going to see them, what on earth would be the elephant's fate?

A ridiculous post.

Mahouts bring their animals to the city or tourist attractions because it's easy money. Certainly easier than growing bananas, watermelons and sugar cane back home in the hot farm fields to feed their animals.

Edited March 6, 2013 by Fookhaht

[agnusmaximus]

Poor beast, know how it feels.

[techboy]

such a sad story , very sorry for this woman , maybe time to realized that elephant are not that peaceful after all. They should be forbidden on the beach or any other tourist area.. rare accident for sure but it happened.

Elephants are wild animals, perhaps it's time to realize that beating and starving them to use as show pony is not wise and has consequences.

Perhaps it's also time to realize that animals are not here for human amusement.

Rip victim and condolences to the husband irrespective where he is from.

Really have no idea why origin of a person is important in reporting sad news like this

"Really have no idea why origin of a person is important in reporting sad news like this." It is responsible detailed reporting and there is nothing wrong with it. You have mischaracterized this in a disgraceful attempt to make yourself appear to be a person of higher morals and ethics than others. You should be ashamed of yourself for using that poor lady's tragedy as a tool for your own self edification.

[Potosi]

Are there still wild elephants in Thailand? If so their habitats are shrinking because the economy must grow, something we all agree with, don't we? They have been domesticated for millenia. Are tame ones unhappier than those in the wild? They live longer, no poaching, breakfast, lunch and dinner secured every day, shelter and healthcare, and lots of entertainment with all those small humans and their stuff around. The beast had a chain around the legs. So what? That's no torture, not anymore than to leash and muzzle, or chain a Pitbull. Could have sawn the tusks off, though. It has been walked along the beach. So what? It has legs, it's build for walks. There are more fatal accidents of people meeting wild elephants than with domesticated ones (statistics from India which still has a substantial wild elephant population). Last year a mahout lost his life in the Jomtien elephant camp when his beast turned, and unintentionally crushed him against a concrete structure. As long as there are elephants, no matter where, some humans will die.

[Skydisc]

Tourists should be more informed about the abuses to the elephants to get them listening to the mahouts. When I came for the first time to Thailand I didn't know too and also sit on their backs. Now I know how they are humiliated and abused and will certainly never do it again. Once I had a confrontation with such a mahout , I told him to leave when he tried to enter the open area of a restaurant in Hua Hin. Then he was very agressive and showed fight movements. The ignorance of tourists plays a major role. But how do you inform that many tourists in diferent countries? They are happy to see such an impressive animal, that's important to them.

[agnusmaximus]

This Story really gets me fired up. I blame everyone for this. The govt. that allows this to happen, the police that allows this to happen, all they care about is tourism and money. No safety standards, no animal handling standards, no standard protocol for recording the animals history, no zoning standards. I understand that it is a tourist attraction, but guess what? look what happens when nobody cares, this! this is what happens when there's no standards, no practices. I also blame the owner, this person should be tried and sent to jail for animal cruelty and manslaughter. I also blame the locals, who are so jaded by this practice and knows no one is gonna do anything about it, and they simply don't care. I also blame the tourists, these people know damn well this crap was wrong, pretty sure they have seen some animal cruelty commercial with some puppy giving them the sad eyes. what do they think is going to happen? the thing is a baby god sake, sitting in a hundred degree weather chained to something with the owner holding a dang war weapon, no mom, no understanding of what the heck is going on. the thing was cornered with a thousand intimidating foreign animals and all they think about is "oh cool, an elephant, photo op yalz!" BAM! <deleted> chemical reaction! now some poor chap lost his wife of god knows how many years. Now guess who gets the blame, all fingers on the elephant. That is a huge load of BS. the guy should sue the city in my opinion. but, that will never happen because we are surrounded by a bunch of bureaucratic BS.

[agnusmaximus]

If you have domesticated wild animals in public, they should be some pretty dang high standards. Now no one is going to take responsibility, bunch of cowards, watch.

[wilcopops]

Are there still wild elephants in Thailand? If so their habitats are shrinking because the economy must grow, something we all agree with, don't we? They have been domesticated for millenia. Are tame ones unhappier than those in the wild? They live longer, no poaching, breakfast, lunch and dinner secured every day, shelter and healthcare, and lots of entertainment with all those small humans and their stuff around. The beast had a chain around the legs. So what? That's no torture, not anymore than to leash and muzzle, or chain a Pitbull. Could have sawn the tusks off, though. It has been walked along the beach. So what? It has legs, it's build for walks. There are more fatal accidents of people meeting wild elephants than with domesticated ones (statistics from India which still has a substantial wild elephant population). Last year a mahout lost his life in the Jomtien elephant camp when his beast turned, and unintentionally crushed him against a concrete structure. As long as there are elephants, no matter where, some humans will die.

Sorry but this post is essentially rubbish, it's this sort of uninformed ignorance that not only does nothing to help but actually hinders progress.

[MESmith]

Are there still wild elephants in Thailand? If so their habitats are shrinking because the economy must grow, something we all agree with, don't we?

Less of the we, please

[wilcopops]

If you have domesticated wild animals in public, they should be some pretty dang high standards. Now no one is going to take responsibility, bunch of cowards, watch.

domesticated wild animals???

I'm appalled at the level of ignorance of some of the posts.......if this is how much "educated" people know about the plight of elephants what hope is there?

[agnusmaximus]

If you have domesticated wild animals in public, they should be some pretty dang high standards. Now no one is going to take responsibility, bunch of cowards, watch.

domesticated wild animals???

I'm appalled at the level of ignorance of some of the posts.......if this is how much "educated" people know about the plight of elephants what hope is there?

poor word choice, attacking my grammar is doing what exactly? feeding your? kinda shows poor character doesn't it? is my statement wrong or is this a d*ck swinging contest? how bout everyone agrees that you are hyper-intelligent and i am not on the same league as you and we get back to the subject. you win tough guy.

[Jim walker]

So they have discovered elephants are wild animals, and
elephants given the choice I am sure would prefer to live in the jungles up
north in Thailand where they come from, rather than be chained up and having to
trudge along streets and beaches with humans and vehicles going about everywhere
and having to eat the same crap every day. Release it back into the wild if it
is not too domesticated, then once its tusks grow big some poacher will come
along and extract them, but at least it could have a few years of just being a
normal elephant, if it was acting insane I am sure it was only due to stress.

[transam]

So they have discovered elephants are wild animals, and

elephants given the choice I am sure would prefer to live in the jungles up

north in Thailand where they come from, rather than be chained up and having to

trudge along streets and beaches with humans and vehicles going about everywhere

and having to eat the same crap every day. Release it back into the wild if it

is not too domesticated, then once its tusks grow big some poacher will come

along and extract them, but at least it could have a few years of just being a

normal elephant, if it was acting insane I am sure it was only due to stress.

So why do humans kill for no apparent reason ?

[wilcopops]

If you have domesticated wild animals in public, they should be some pretty dang high standards. Now no one is going to take responsibility, bunch of cowards, watch.

domesticated wild animals???

I'm appalled at the level of ignorance of some of the posts.......if this is how much "educated" people know about the plight of elephants what hope is there?

poor word choice, attacking my grammar is doing what exactly? feeding your? kinda shows poor character doesn't it? is my statement wrong or is this a d*ck swinging contest? how bout everyone agrees that you are hyper-intelligent and i am not on the same league as you and we get back to the subject. you win tough guy.

Grammar????

It's not your grammar I have a problem with......and I'm not"attacking" anything.

You don't seem to understand the difference between wild and domestic animals and yet your point of view seems to be based on this misunderstanding which I would suggest renders it pointless.

However,if you want a grammatical angle to it, my guess is it's an oxymoron.

[GentlemanJim]

We used to have a guy come down our soi every day with a 6 yr old Elephant, selling sugar cane to feed to the animal. I have to confess that just after settling in I thought this quite a novelty, for my daughter to see, but quickly realised the truth of what was going on. I saw the animal had wounds, oozing blood around its ears and head where that mahmout had dug in his 'war weapon' (an apt description, thank you agnusmaximus). I stopped all interaction with the guy and his beast of burden, which incidentally or coincidentally then waited outside our gate one day until it had taken a 5 gallon piss all over the drive (If you think cat piss smells bad you know nothing, and a hose pipe and 1000 liters of water couldn't get rid of the stench).

You, your family or your visitors may be unavoidably close to such an animal in Thailand. Some things to be very wary of (I don't think applicable to a two year old Elephant if that is truly the age of the animal in this case), always look to see if the animal is in musk! Young Males exude an oily secretion from a gland between the eyes and the ears, you can see it running down the animals face, during this period the animals can become extremely aggressive and unpredictable as they are approaching the height of a mating urge. It can happen to a lesser degree to females (though apparently african but not asian females - but I used to see it on the 6 yr old female that came down the soi). If you observe this, then quietly back off and stay well away.

Here are about 24 Elephant attacks with links on the side bar to dozens more, you will notice if you freeze frame that many of the elephants have the tell tale wet skin patch between the eyes and ears, they are in musk or musth as it is sometimes referred to.

Edited to add, if you look at the video on youtube it actually runs into a series of 24 short clips automatically. Click on the URL and open in youtube for a better result.

Fill yer boots!

Try this

Incidentally when I have been on game reserves in Africa, the Elephant is the only animal that when observing it the drivers do not turn the vehicle engine off.

Edited March 6, 2013 by GentlemanJim

[lemoncake]

such a sad story , very sorry for this woman , maybe time to realized that elephant are not that peaceful after all. They should be forbidden on the beach or any other tourist area.. rare accident for sure but it happened.

Elephants are wild animals, perhaps it's time to realize that beating and starving them to use as show pony is not wise and has consequences.

Perhaps it's also time to realize that animals are not here for human amusement.

Rip victim and condolences to the husband irrespective where he is from.

Really have no idea why origin of a person is important in reporting sad news like this

"Really have no idea why origin of a person is important in reporting sad news like this." It is responsible detailed reporting and there is nothing wrong with it. You have mischaracterized this in a disgraceful attempt to make yourself appear to be a person of higher morals and ethics than others. You should be ashamed of yourself for using that poor lady's tragedy as a tool for your own self edification.

Really? did you actually bother to read? was not aware that using "farang" in English media was responsible., but what would i know when around you, someone with much higher morals and ethics

Perhaps spelling foreigner is too difficult or simply stating a female was killed and husband was by her side instead of "Thai wife of a farang"

[agnusmaximus]

If you have domesticated wild animals in public, they should be some pretty dang high standards. Now no one is going to take responsibility, bunch of cowards, watch.

domesticated wild animals???

I'm appalled at the level of ignorance of some of the posts.......if this is how much "educated" people know about the plight of elephants what hope is there?

poor word choice, attacking my grammar is doing what exactly? feeding your? kinda shows poor character doesn't it? is my statement wrong or is this a d*ck swinging contest? how bout everyone agrees that you are hyper-intelligent and i am not on the same league as you and we get back to the subject. you win tough guy.

Grammar????

It's not your grammar I have a problem with......and I'm not"attacking" anything.

You don't seem to understand the difference between wild and domestic animals and yet your point of view seems to be based on this misunderstanding which I would suggest renders it pointless.

However,if you want a grammatical angle to it, my guess is it's an oxymoron.

look guys, what I'm trying to say is that if you get an animal that used to be in the wild, or its natural habitat is in the wild, or it has the capacity to hurt the public and has been tamed for the purpose of public entertainment, it should be regulated so that an incident like this will not occur again. so please stop trying to start a flame war, I thought this forum was used to discuss current Thai events and dream of a perfect society, not beat someone down intellectually to the point where no one wants to talk to each other unless the opposing party thinks of a better come back. i am open minded and i will admit that i am wrong, i don't have this tumor called pride. I used to be an unbeatable a**hole, my prior occupation made me one, but i am sick of it. there's a tons of other forums to test your intellectual a**holness. Im guilty of doing such things, but no one is perfect. but i will admit my wrong doings, its called being a man.

[agnusmaximus]

elephants are intelligent animals and should be treated with respect. now put a teenage one in chains and making him your monkey is a recipe for disaster, exhibit-A. now have a society where this junk runs rampant really gets my blood flowing. This is unacceptable behavior. take this to say, America, hippies across the country will be up in arms. this is something I support. it shows national pride and the intestinal fortitude to demand what is right. I'm not saying Thailand should go up in arms, I'm saying that many things wrong with this country can be easily corrected. Its so easy to make these corrections, but it never happens because there's a lack of attention to detail and not giving two sh*ts. and I am so fed up with all that BS that my hair is about to be set on fire.

Edited March 6, 2013 by agnusmaximus

[agnusmaximus]

So they have discovered elephants are wild animals, and

elephants given the choice I am sure would prefer to live in the jungles up

north in Thailand where they come from, rather than be chained up and having to

trudge along streets and beaches with humans and vehicles going about everywhere

and having to eat the same crap every day. Release it back into the wild if it

is not too domesticated, then once its tusks grow big some poacher will come

along and extract them, but at least it could have a few years of just being a

normal elephant, if it was acting insane I am sure it was only due to stress.

So why do humans kill for no apparent reason ?

every animal is wired different bro, especially us.

[wilcopops]

Tourists in general need to take a lot of the blame, as they are the ones creating the demand. They should stay well away from chained up animals like elephants, tigers, bears, etc. It's very cruel to treat animals this way for the amusement of tourists. And shame on all the tourists that perpetuate these cruelties. The cruelty is often obvious to see, bit most tourists just don't care, as long as they get their precious photo.

So you want to ban horse racing ?

It is difficult to end it all overnight. The only reason some of these animals are alive is because of tourists. These are massive attraction in Thailand and if everyone stopped going to see them, what on earth would be the elephant's fate?

A ridiculous post.

Mahouts bring their animals to the city or tourist attractions because it's easy money. Certainly easier than growing bananas, watermelons and sugar cane back home in the hot farm fields to feed their animals.

THey aren't "mahouts" and they aren't their animals. they are usually rented of unscrupulous owners.

Edited March 6, 2013 by wilcopops