THAILAND: In an unusual but charming encounter, a wild elephant in northeastern Thailand attained viral “celebrity status” after nonchalantly walking into a convenience store, helped himself to cartons of rice crackers, and just walked out of the store as if nothing had happened. The episode, captured on video and shared on the Here is Khao Yai Facebook page, has tickled locals and animal lovers all over the country.
Cracker crime goes viral
According to a recent SCMP report, the video showed the enormous elephant, known locally as Plai Biang Lek, wandering into the tiny store in Pak Chong district, his head almost hitting the ceiling. Without reluctance, he ransacked the snack shelves, demolishing several boxes of rice crackers in what social media users flippantly called a “daylight robbery.”
Thais hurriedly took to social media to simulate the elephant’s tricks. “Would you like some pork buns?” one commenter jested. Another bantered, “Did you forget to pay for your food, Biang? Have you scanned?” The carefree tenor mirrors a cultural fondness for elephants, even in times of pandemonium.
Plai Biang Lek, no longer a stranger to the limelight, has already been spotted numerous times in human settlements. In a prior incident, he was caught on camera sneaking into a restaurant pantry, attracted by the aroma of food while the owners were sleeping.
Shrinking habitats fuel elephant-human encounters
The store is situated near Khao Yai National Park, a huge protected area and home to wild elephants. With development and agricultural expansions, these animals have increasingly been leaving the park seeking food, which has resulted in more frequent, sometimes panicky, encounters with humans.
Thailand’s wild elephant population is projected to be between 3,700 and 4,400, but loss of habitat has driven many into the countryside and busy communities. Some growers, troubled by crop devastation, have resorted to building electric railings, leading to injury or tragic death of some elephants.
Despite these pressures, elephants remain an extremely well-regarded character in Thailand, a land where elephants are the official animals and have played an essential role in the nation’s history.
A nation of elephants, wild and captive
While the quantity of wild elephants has diminished, caged populations have outnumbered them today. About 2,798 elephants are held in reserve within tourism venues across Thailand, with almost three-quarters utilised for entertainment purposes.
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In contrast to the early 20th century, when Thailand bragged about 300,000 wild elephants, only around 6,000 remain today, half of which live in uninhabited areas.
As for Plai Biang Lek, his ‘snack attack’ has made him an ‘urban legend,’ a representation of both the allure and the challenges of Thailand residents’ coexistence with these most iconic animals.
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