Elephant picks up woman in Ayuthaya in its trunk and tosses her to the ground - she is severely injured

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Elephant picks up woman in Ayuthaya in its trunk and tosses her to the ground - she is severely injured

 

Image: Thairath

 

AYUTTHAYA: -- An elephant at the ruins in Ayuthaya picked up a 35 year old woman in its trunk, twirled her into the air and thumped her into the ground.

 

The mahout had tried to stop her feeding the elephant bananas but she had ignored his pleas, reports Thairath.

 

Wilaiwan Phankhian from Klong Sa Bua sub-district suffered a fractured skull, broken arm, broken leg and crushed chest. 

 

Medics who rushed to the scene at the Viharn Phra Monkhon Bophit had to give her CPR before she was taken to hospital.

 

The 30 year old elephant was described as a good natured animal who had never hurt anyone before while working at the ruins.

 

A tuk-tuk driver called Suphat Panthong,40, who saw what happened said that the woman had tried to feed raw "nam wa" bananas to the elephant and though the mahout had tried to stop her she had insisted.

 

The elephant got angry and picked her up in its trunk.

 

The mahout Urai Salangam, 43, told reporters that it was not good to feed elephants raw bananas. He was backed up by the owner of the elephant who said that his employee was an experienced mahout who knew exactly how to handle elephants.

 

Source: Thairath

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2016-10-05

[alfalfa19]

was the elephant ticked off because she did not peel the bananas first??

[daveAustin]

Expect they mean unripe. Don't get in a pachyderm's face!

[ukrules]

What are you supposed to do - cook them ?

 

If this dumb ass elephant didn't want to eat them it should have ignored them.

 

Stupid elephant.

 

[bluebluewater]

My horse gets pissy if I don't cut up his apples for him.

[NongKhaiKid]

The mahout tried to stop her but she ignored him !

Says so much.

Edited October 5, 2016 by NongKhaiKid

[ratcatcher]

"The mahout Urai Salangam, 43, told reporters that it was not good to feed elephants raw bananas. He was backed up by the owner of the elephant who said that his employee was an experienced mahout who knew exactly how to handle elephants."

 

I wonder just how important a person the owner happens to be. I don't blame the elephant, the woman was making a nuisance of herself after being told repeatedly by the mahout to cease feeding bananas to the animal. I hope she recovers from her injuries and realizes how stupid she was.

add. I assume "raw" bananas means green, unripe as opposed to yellow"ripe" bananas? 

Edited October 5, 2016 by ratcatcher
exp

[Sphere]

So, she brought the "nam wa" bananas with her, or she bought them conveniently on site?

[AGareth2]

lesson 1

don't piss off an elephant

[canuckamuck]

The elephant saw she was making the mohout angry and it took that to be a threat. And then it dealt with that threat. Considering she survived, I would say the elephant used some restraint.

[robertthebruce]

 

 

Glad they never Killed the Elephant, at the end of the day it's an Animal....

 

and also the the woman was warned......

 

 

[PremiumLane]

It is quite simple really, Elephants should either be in the wild or wildlife reserves where they can live normal and natural lives. Not used as amusement for tourists.

[CaptHaddock]

Interesting that, without hearing anything from the tourist, everyone readily believes the owner and the mahout, who after all have an interest in avoiding any responsibility by blaming the victim.

[DoctorG]

1 minute ago, CaptHaddock said:

Interesting that, without hearing anything from the tourist, everyone readily believes the owner and the mahout, who after all have an interest in avoiding any responsibility by blaming the victim.

 

The tuk-tuk driver also reported the same thing.

[ratcatcher]

5 minutes ago, robertthebruce said:

 

 

Glad they never Killed the Elephant, at the end of the day it's an Animal....

 

and also the the woman was warned......

 

 

I think a much higher authority would need to be consulted re destroying an elephant from the Ayuttaya "kraal" .

Enough of these noble creatures are lost every year here in Thailand due to man's stupidity (electrocution)  and by accidental death such as the recent bus/elephant accident in Lampang. 

I'm sure some compensation for the woman involved may be offered by the owner?

 

 

 

[NongKhaiKid]

3 minutes ago, CaptHaddock said:

Interesting that, without hearing anything from the tourist, everyone readily believes the owner and the mahout, who after all have an interest in avoiding any responsibility by blaming the victim.

The injured person is Thai so, in theory, there shouldn't have been a language problem at least.

[NextStationBangkok]

Moral of the story is, you taste yourself first before giving any food to Elephants, don't take it granted, because it is an animal.

 

[Stokakrishna]

perhaps the elephant was pissed at the driver who killed his mate in lampang last week.

 so just wanted to take revenge

[cumgranosalum]

"

The mahout Urai Salangam, 43, told reporters that it was not good to feed elephants raw bananas. He was backed up by the owner of the elephant who said that his employee was an experienced mahout who knew exactly how to handle elephants."

 

whether or not there is any scientific proof behind this apparently bizarre excuse, the incident just further demonstrates the deplorable lack of control over the use of wild/captive animals in public in Thailand.

This situation should never have occurred - it is quite likely that if the mahout became agitated with the woman the elephant might have become fearful and aggressive.

 

The whole incident suggests that these people should to be exhibiting elephants to the public and one has to wonder at the validity of their "excuses".

[Yann55]

19 minutes ago, canuckamuck said:

The elephant saw she was making the mohout angry and it took that to be a threat. And then it dealt with that threat. Considering she survived, I would say the elephant used some restraint.

 

You are most probably right. From what I've read, elephants and mahouts have a very strong bond and if the elephant feels that his mahout is angry at someone he probably reacts to that, more than to what the woman actually did.

 

Some of the comments on this thread are so incredibly dumb that they make me angry, but one thing they show for sure, when it comes to stupidity, humans are the absolute champions.

 

Elephants are used by humans for all kinds of purposes which all boil down to one purpose only : making money. These remarkable creatures are enslaved by our 'intelligence', which is enslaved by greed.

 

To call an elephant 'stupid' shows such an absolute lack of understanding of the animal reign that one wonders why God (if He/She exists) ever gave us our special brain, considering what use we're making of it.

Edited October 5, 2016 by Yann55

[English 1]

When will mankind stop using animals especially the majestic elephant for work and so called pleasure.

 

It'a a disgrace these animals initially are tortured as babies until their will is broken and they submit and obey....

 

until one day they have to let their frustration out!

 

It's the elephant that has my sympathy not the dumb women.

Edited October 5, 2016 by Rimmer
font

[HoboKay]

Count her blessings, she's not dead.

 

Wonder what amulet was she adorned with to protect her?

[AlQaholic]

17 minutes ago, PremiumLane said:

It is quite simple really, Elephants should either be in the wild or wildlife reserves where they can live normal and natural lives. Not used as amusement for tourists.

Yeah, and so should Horses, Cows, Dogs and cats....just to mention a few.....Remember Elephants was the work horse of Asia just as Horses was the work horse of the west, then both became attractions and horses are made to race and jump over silly obstacles, unfortunately there are no such avenues of activity for the Elephants....

Just wonder how many people get kicked by Horses every year? Anyway when an Elephant gets mad the damage is considerably more....

Edited October 5, 2016 by AlQaholic

[Lamkyong]

never hurt anyone before while working at the ruins.   and prior to working at the ruins??

[cumgranosalum]

3 minutes ago, Yann55 said:

 

You are most probably right. From what I've read, elephants and mahouts have a very strong bond and if the elephant feels that his mahout is angry at someone he probably reacts to that, more than to what the woman actually did.

Some of the comments on this thread are so incredibly dumb that they make me angry, but one thing they show for show, when it comes to stupidity, humans are the absolute champions.

Elephants are used by humans for all kinds of purposes which all boil down to one purpose only : making money. These remarkable creatures are enslaved by our 'intelligence', which is enslaved by greed.

To call an elephant 'stupid' shows such an absolute lack of understanding of the animal reign that one wonders why God 'if he exists) ever gave us our special brain, considering what we're making of it.

"elephants and mahouts have a very strong bond and if the elephant feels that his mahout is angry at someone he probably reacts to that" - sorry but in most cases in Thailand, that is absolute nonsense. The elephants are rented out by the day to men who for one reason or another have some experience in handling elephants - normally limited to a few bits of folklore and a large metal hook.

 

the old concept of a mahout living/working with the same elephant for a lifetime is now largely a myth.

 

These guys in charge of elephants are uneducated and untrained - they pick up a few "techniques" that work along the way, very little is actually learned about the animals in their care, they are jusat interested in getting as many customers as they can.

[cumgranosalum]

9 minutes ago, AlQaholic said:

Yeah, and so should Horses, Cows, Dogs and cats....just to mention a few.....Remember Elephants was the work horse of Asia just as Horses was the work horse of the west, then both became attractions and horses are made to race and jump over silly obstacles, unfortunately there are no such avenues of activity for the Elephants....

Just wonder how many people get kicked by Horses every year? Anyway when an Elephant gets mad the damage is considerably more....

A profoundly uninformed reply.

 

Elephants are NOT domesticated animals and you don't seem to have even the most basic grasp of domestication/use and abuses of animals.

in reality the laws in Europe and US that cover the treatment of cattle - even those destined for the abbatoir are FAR more strict than any laws in Thailand that cover the treatment of Elephants and other captive animals.

 

you attempt to draw parallels with domesticated animals just underlines how little you understand of the issues involved

Edited October 5, 2016 by cumgranosalum

[AlQaholic]

1 minute ago, cumgranosalum said:

A profoundly uninformed reply.

 

Elephants are NOT domesticated animals and you don't seem to have even the most basic grasp of domestication/use and abuses of animals.

in reality the laws in Europe and US that cover the treatment of cattle - even those destined for the abbatoir are FAR more strict than any laws in Thailand that cover the treatment of Elephants and other captive animals.

 

you atempts to draw parallels with domesticated animals is just naive in the extreme.

Ok so if you see one of those paintings in Europe showing an ongoing war using horses "Cavalry" these are domesticated animals, while if you see those wall paintings in Ayuthaya showing a war between Burmese and Thai conducted on the back of Elephants or same thing in India, these are not domesticated? What would you call those Elephants then?

[dieseldave1951]

21 minutes ago, DoctorG said:

 

The tuk-tuk driver also reported the same thing.

there is no real control of an elephant if an elephant gets spooked or pissed off no amount of some skinny man-hout wriggling and kicking around behind the animals ears  and is going to deter it

there is no way i would feed anything of that size even a horse make me uneasy

when i am close to it

[PremiumLane]

17 minutes ago, AlQaholic said:

Yeah, and so should Horses, Cows, Dogs and cats....just to mention a few.....Remember Elephants was the work horse of Asia just as Horses was the work horse of the west, then both became attractions and horses are made to race and jump over silly obstacles, unfortunately there are no such avenues of activity for the Elephants....

Just wonder how many people get kicked by Horses every year? Anyway when an Elephant gets mad the damage is considerably more....

 

Cats? Dogs? not really wild animals though are they, big difference. 

[AlQaholic]

2 minutes ago, PremiumLane said:

 

Cats? Dogs? not really wild animals though are they, big difference. 

Agreed, went too far with that, but the parallel with horses I think is valid....