Elephant Rampage

[PepeLePew]

http://www.phuketgaz...rticle9968.html

 

Elephant trek tragedy: Victims speak from Phuket hospital

 

LUCKY TO BE ALIVE: Helen Gothe suffered a broken rib and severe lacerations to her left arm while her husband, Sean, escaped uninjured.

 

PHUKET: A Swiss woman is dead and three other foreign tourists are in hospital in Phuket after an elephant went berserk during a trekking tour in Phang Nga yesterday.

 

Speaking from his wife’s bedside at Bangkok Hospital Phuket this afternoon, Australian tourist Sean Gothe said he and his wife Helen were among eight couples on a one-day tour to Khao Sok National Park.

 

In the afternoon, the Gothes climbed aboard their elephant, a 31-year-old female, and the other couples did likewise.

 

At about the half-way point in the ride, three or four of the animals met in a clearing and the mahouts (elephant drivers) exchanged cameras to take photos.

 

At this point, one of the elephants went berserk and attacked the elephant the Gothes were riding on, trying to rip off its trunk.

 

All of the elephants ran off in different directions, with the berserk beast giving chase to the one with the Gothes on board.

 

Mr Gothe and his wife feared that they and the elephant would fall off a cliff to their deaths as the mahouts desperately tried to calm the animals, Mr Gothe said.

 

Both animals were bleeding from being struck by the sharpened metal tools used by the mahouts, he added.

 

The retaining bar on the Gothes’ elephant’s saddle eventually dislodged and Mrs Gothe fell off the right side.

 

Mr Gothe said he feared she had hit her head on a rock as she lay motionless on the ground while the elephant beneath him continued to run full tilt into the distance.

 

The crazed elephant was carrying a Swiss woman in her 60s and her English companion.

 

The elephant threw off the mahout and the Swiss woman, who was then intentionally trampled to death by the enraged animal.

 

The Englishman was able to get off the elephant without major injuries.

 

Mr Gothe said the Englishman’s mahout had told the couple earlier that the elephant was a male.

 

Female elephants are typically used on elephant trekking tours because they have better dispositions.

 

One of the animals that ran off in fear took 90 minutes to calm down sufficiently to allow its terrified riders to dismount, the Australian said.

 

All of the injured are now being treated at Bangkok Hospital Phuket.

 

The most seriously injured is a Swiss woman with 12 broken ribs and a punctured lung, Mr Gothe said.

 

Mr Gothe had kind things to say about the mahouts and junior staff at the Siam Safari tour company that organized the trip, but said he was furious that senior management had not contacted any of the injured.

 

“All they did was send us a fruit basket,” he said.

 

The Phuket Gazette called the Chalong-based company this morning, but the operator said the management found it inconvenient to make a comment at that time.

 

The company has been running eco-tours in Southern Thailand for 21 years.

 

Pol Lt Col Apidej Chuaygue of the Phanom District Police in Phang Nga said the accident happened at about 3pm at the Khao Lak Safari site in Klongsok subdistrict.

 

The mahouts said the fight started when playing among some male elephants suddenly turned to anger.

 

It was the first such case at the Khao Lak Safari operation, the owners of which have already been charged with negligence resulting in death.

 

Some of the individual mahouts have also been charged, the policeman said.

 

The Phuket Gazette is withholding the name of the dead woman pending notification of next of kin.

[jojomecanic]

I feel quite sorry for these tourists but I hope this will make people realise how those animals suffers for our great pleasure.

 

Tourists should avoid all animals attractions in Thailand (and all around the world).

[ExpatDave]

I feel quite sorry for these tourists but I hope this will make people realise how those animals suffers for our great pleasure.

 

Tourists should avoid all animals attractions in Thailand (and all around the world).

 

Just Curious...

 

Under interests, you have Crocodile farm. I am a little confused.

[jojomecanic]

Just Curious...

 

Under interests, you have Crocodile farm. I am a little confused.

 

OMG...

Did you realy beleived that a mid 40 single man in Pattaya for 15 days with a Cialis box in his pocket and condoms in the other could be interested in crocodile farm ?

 

Edit : forgot the smiley

Edited February 24, 2011 by jojomecanic

[ExpatDave]

OMG...

Did you realy beleived that a mid 40 single man in Pattaya for 15 days with a Cialis box in his pocket and condoms in the other could be interested in crocodile farm ?

 

Edit : forgot the smiley

 

Edit 2 : shit, still got this "attached image..." thing instead of my pic...

 

LOL.

 

Sorry, I am a bit slow today.

[PepeLePew]

 

 

 

 

I just noticed the big grin on his face. Of course he has reason to be happy, he and his partner survived but these type of pics usually feature glumness. TIT

[McFly]

Avoiding animals is a hard thing to do because it attracts many people to that country.

 

OMG...

Did you realy beleived that a mid 40 single man in Pattaya for 15 days with a Cialis box in his pocket and condoms in the other could be interested in crocodile farm ?

 

Edit : forgot the smiley

So you're starting a cialis farm? NICE!

[jojomecanic]

I just noticed the big grin on his face. Of course he has reason to be happy, he and his partner survived but these type of pics usually feature glumness. TIT

 

No, no... he has a happy smile because his wife is stuck in hospital bed and tonight he's going back to the hotel alone...

hmmm... "alone", I mean not with his wife...

[nice to visit]

No, no... he has a happy smile because his wife is stuck in hospital bed and tonight he's going back to the hotel alone...

hmmm... "alone", I mean not with his wife...

 

I thought the same thing. Visiting hours will finish at the hospital and he will be hitting the bars. An unexpected turn of events for the guy on his holiday!

[Larie]

I thought only female elephants were domesticated and that they were sent into the forest occasionally to get mounted.

[PepeLePew]

No, no... he has a happy smile because his wife is stuck in hospital bed and tonight he's going back to the hotel alone...

hmmm... "alone", I mean not with his wife...

 

 

Lol, why didn't I think of that!

[Gibson]

No, no... he has a happy smile because his wife is stuck in hospital bed and tonight he's going back to the hotel alone...

hmmm... "alone", I mean not with his wife...

 

Thats the first thing that popped into my head!

[pallmall]

The picture is a fake. If it was in Thailand why are there no Thais pointing at the woman?

[Dr.Winston]

You hear about this kind of incident about once every few years in Thailand When I worked as a tour guide at Kha Yai National I witnessed how quickly elephants can turn. I was in the back of a pick up with some tourists driving ahead of a herd of wild elephants that were using the road through the park at night. I was taking these pictures here. Without warning one of them took offence to my camera's flash gun. I could see the expression in it's eyes change. The elephants accelerated towards us at frightening speed. I called for the driver to race away and he dropped a couple of gears.......the elephants must have got to within 20 feet of the pick-up before we picked up enough speed to leave them behind. I had been taking pictures for about 5 minutes before this without incident.

 

 

You can read about another incident of an elephant killing somebody in Thailand here I don't see them as vicious creatures at all, in the wild it's obviously best to keep your distance and who knows the stresses some of the captive ones endure?

[PepeLePew]

The picture is a fake. If it was in Thailand why are there no Thais pointing at the woman?

 

 

 

 

.the elephants must have got to within 20 feet of the pick-up before we picked up enough speed to leave them behind. I had been taking pictures for about 5 minutes before this without incident.

 

Hope no one shows them this forum, they have long memories I hear

 

 

You can read about another incident of an elephant killing somebody in Thailand here I don't see them as vicious creatures at all, in the wild it's obviously best to keep your distance and who knows the stresses some of the captive ones endure?

 

I totally agree. They are in general docile creatures however we must always remember they are docile wild creatures regardless of how well trained or 'domesticated' they are.

[Fantasy Island]

wow. I might trample a few people too if I was put on a hamster wheel the rest of my life.