When elephants carrying tourists collide

The tourists and mahout were thrown from the elephant’s back and landed on the hard ground. All 3 people were injured.

The accident occurred at an elephant village in east Pattaya at an elephant in Nongprue east Pattaya on September 5 towards the end of a tour of the surrounding jungle. American tourists Alice Josephine Charoonsak, 71, and Virginia Lee Stokes were getting ready to dismount their trusted 70-year-old male elephant named Plai Somjit when another male elephant 63-year-old Plai Boonsri decided to squeeze into the same spot to let off his riders.

This cause one of the 2 elephants to start a scuffle at the elephant village which then caused the 3 people to get thrown and injured.

Apparently, the space was too narrow for the 2 giants of the jungle who tried to muscle each other out of the way. The heavyweight tussle caused Plai Somjit to lose his footing, and when he fell, he sent his 3 riders tumbling to the ground.

The staff rushed in to give emergency treatment to the injured before sending the 2 American ladies to the Bangkok Hospital Pattaya for further treatment.

The question of whether anyone should even ride an elephant comes to mind.

The Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation (GTAEF) strongly believes that in an ideal world all elephants would be wild. This is unfortunately not the case, so until we reach that point, GTAEF aims to assist captive elephants, improving their lives and welfare, while also taking part in conservation and wild elephant programs to ensure the survival of the wild herd. GTAEF at all times endeavors to ensure that net good is done and that their action in helping one elephant does not adversely affect others.

According to GTAEF, “Elephants have the capacity to be fatally dangerous to humans and other elephants in both captive and wild situations and must be managed accordingly.”