A temple worker was stomped to death by a wild elephant while taking a stroll at a temple in Hua Hin district on Saturday.
Prasit Kanchanasilanon, 58, who lived at Wat Anan in tambon Huay Satyai, was found lying face-down in a pool of blood in front of the monks’ living quarters. He had suffered a fractured skull and other major injuries.
Phra Athikarn Somchai Thankalo, the abbot of the temple, said the sound of elephants was heard around 4am. He said a herd of wild elephants often came to eat jackfruit behind the temple, located about 10 kilometres from the Pala-U waterfall, a popular tourist attraction.
The abbot said he saw Prasit lying dead in front of the monks’ living quarters around 7am. He had lived at the temple for about 10 years and helped clean the compound.
The victim’s younger brother told police he and his brother had lived in the temple for many years. Before dawn, Prasit often went out to stroll in the grounds and might have accidentally confronted a wild elephant, Thai media reported.
Chatree Chanveerachai, the deputy governor of Prachuap Khiri Khan province, said he had visited the area recently and discussed the problem of wild elephant intrusions into local communities.
He said the discussions had included a proposal to create water and food sources for the animals as well as construction of a road to prevent the animals from raiding crop plantations.
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