NAKHON RATCHASIMA: A 69-year-old man was stomped to death overnight by a wild elephant while trying to protect his sugarcane crop in Wang Nam Khieo district.
Wang Nam Khieo police were informed of the death of Uthorn Kanthong at his farm in Ban Khok Sa-at in Moo 12 in tambon Wang Mhee around 3.05am on Friday.
Uthorn was lying dead in the middle of the field with multiple fractures to his legs, arm and ribs. There were elephant footprints across the scene.
Wanchai Ladsai, chief of the Khao Yai National Park (Klong Pla Kang-Khao Ban San Kamphaeng), said Uthorn was attacked by a male elephant they had named Bieng. It had been seen raiding crops in the area recently.
Villagers had taken to staying overnight in their fields, hoping to scare the elephant away and preserve their crops.
Uthorn may have tried to confront the elephant, which was in musth, and chase him back into the forest. Instead, he was attacked and killed by the frenzied tusker.
Kwanchanok Kwangkrathok, 37, said elephants had been raiding and damaging their crops in recent months. Her father had been keeping watch over his sugarcane and corn fields from 10.00pm to midnight every day.
Members of the family and neighbours went out to look for him when he failed to return home after midnight, she said. She later heard from local rescue workers that he had been killed.
