Last weekend, a Thai woman named Ratchadawan Puengprasoppon (รัชฎาวรรณ ผึ้งประสพพร) was woken up in the wee hours of the morning to crashing and banging sounds. She bravely went downstairs to investigate and was shocked to find an elephant had smashed into her kitchen. “Oh, did I wake you?” The elephant, Boonchuay, lives in Kaeng Krachan national park. Apparently, he decided to take a midnight stroll through Ratchadawan’s nearby village of Chalermkiatpattana in the Hua Hin district, got hungry, and, rather than attempting to stick his head through a door or window to steal food, he opted to Kool-Aid Man himself into poor Ratchadawan’s kitchen. This is a lesson for us all: never leave your dirty dishes out overnight if you’re in elephant country!
Ratchadawan filmed the unique encounter. As you can see, after Boonchuay destroyed the wall he knocked a bunch of shit onto the floor and munched on a plastic bag:
Shockingly enough this is not the first time Boonchuay has visited Ratchadawan’s home! Last time he caused 50,000 baht (about $1600 US) worth of damage. Damn. An elephant truly never forgets (where Ratchadawan keeps her yummy plastic bags). Itthipon Thaimonkol, the superintendent of the national park where Boonchuay lives, said (via the Guardian):
“They come to visit quite often. They always come when there is the local market because they can smell food.”
Dr. Joshua Plotnik, an assistant professor who studied elephants in western Thailand, says it’s common for elephants from national parks to raid nearby crop fields for sugar cane or corn:
“These incidences are increasing in Asia, and it is likely due to a decrease in available resources and an increase in human disturbances in the elephants’ habitat”
“If you don’t fulfill the elephants’ need for food, water and other resources in their natural habitat (or ensure they have them somewhere else), they will find ways around deterrents and access villages or crop fields in search of these resources.”
So basically Boonchuay’s thinking is… humans disturbed my habitat? I disturb theirs. Fair, but who’s going to pay for the damages this time, Boonchuay?! Maybe you should smash your head through the wall of a local bank, use your vacuum trunk to suck up some baht and spray the cash back into Ratchadawan’s kitchen via the window or chimney, PLEASE AND THANK YOU!
Pic: Facebook