Thailand marks National Elephant Day amid a crisis of coexistence
Thailand marks its National Elephant Day every March 13 – but not all Thais are celebrating.
Violent encounters between humans and pachyderms are on the rise, with hundreds of lives lost on both sides in recent years.
Last year alone, 29 humans and 30 elephants were killed in aggressive confrontations. Data released at the end of 2025 revealed the long-term toll of the crisis: 273 people and 244 elephants have died in clashes since 2012. Meanwhile, another 245 humans and 94 elephants suffered injuries.
Among the survivors is Prasit Sriphan, who lives in Chum Phae district, Khon Kaen province.
“I have nightmares. Every time I fall asleep, I see myself being grabbed by an enormous trunk,” he told Thai PBS World.
A month ago, Prasit was ambushed by a wild elephant on a remote road. Grabbing him with its trunk, the huge beast hurled him to the ground and began circling.
“Fortunately, I remained conscious and was able to scramble to my motorbike and get away,” he said.
He was lucky to escape with his life, but sustained head injuries and broken ribs in the attack. After several weeks recuperating, he is still unable to work and unsure if he will ever fully recover his health.
Thailand’s elephant population
Surveys indicate Thailand is home to more than 4,000 elephants, spread across national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and reserves. The population is estimated to be rising by approximately 8.2% per year.
Statistics suggest that more than 1,000 wild elephants roam free in the Northeast alone. These massive beasts require enormous amounts of food and water to survive, but these resources are dwindling as the population increases and forests are cut for agriculture.
Though forest rangers are attempting to restore the balance with plants and salt licks, they appear to be fighting a losing battle. For elephants, crops like sugarcane, jackfruit, bananas and pineapples are far tastier.
Meanwhile, elephants that were born and raised in buffer zones have grown used to crossing roads and even entering human communities. They are not afraid of humans, and encounters can turn aggressive.
An unnecessary death
Unhappy with the risk posed by wild elephants, some people have demanded that the beasts be removed when they intrude on residential zones.
Recently, Khon Kaen residents won a court order to relocate a straying mature bull elephant, nicknamed Sidor Hu Pab, back to Phu Luang Wildlife Sanctuary where it came from.
However, the relocation ended in tragedy. Less than an hour into the journey on February 3, the elephant began suffering seizures and collapsed. The autopsy concluded the elephant had choked because he had been given sedatives soon after eating. The death led to a backlash from animal rights advocates, who called for those responsible to be fired.
The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) responded by dropping plans to relocate other wild elephants, but insisted Sidor Hu Pab’s death was not due to negligence or malicious intent.
Proposed solutions
Prominent conservationist Alongkot Chukaew has urged the government to take concrete steps to address human-pachyderm conflicts.
The director and founder of the Thai Elephant Research and Conservation Fund (TERF) noted the crisis had dragged on for more than 20 years and was getting worse by the year.
“Though some measures have been enacted, they failed to improve the situation,” he added.
He said “structural issues” were standing in the way of developing effective, sustainable solutions. Alongkot pointed to the 2019 Wildlife Conservation and Protection Act, which he said categorises wild animals as “creatures of the forest” and thus fails to address the problem of them straying into human communities.
“This old structure is no longer useful. We need to involve communities in monitoring [of wild animals], designing remedial measures and finding effective solutions,” said Alongkot, who wants a national committee to be established to address these issues.
“We can focus first on short-term measures, then address the structural issues,” he added.
He also urged amendment of the Wildlife Conservation and Protection Act to decentralise power, so local administrative bodies and communities have a greater say in how animal-human conflicts are managed.
“They should also be allowed to manage the budget themselves,” he said, adding that the amended act would include an emergency fund to support people affected by the conflicts.
The legal changes would also allow preventive measures such as the setting up of fences and AI-enabled monitoring systems.
Prawattisat Chanthep, chief of Thap Lan National Park, suggested that provincial bodies be set up so local wild-elephant populations can be monitored up close and more effective solutions devised.
The committees could feature representatives from government agencies, non-governmental organisations, the private sector and locals.
He also urged the DNP to create more food sources within forests, so elephants wouldn’t need to venture far for sustenance. Barriers like moats should also be erected to discourage elephants from crossing into human communities.
Prawattisat suggested widening buffer zones to 3 kilometres would be sufficient to keep elephants and humans apart.
“Locals should also be encouraged to grow crops that elephants don’t consume,” he said.
Meanwhile, DNP director-general Athapol Charoenshunsa said his agency is eyeing birth-control measures to keep the wild-elephant population in check.
“The elephants will not be fully sterilised but instead be given contraception shots that are effective for about seven years,” he said.
Chaiya Huaihongthong, chief of Khao Yai National Park, said birth control was necessary because efforts to expand feeding areas within forests had proved ineffective.
Adaptation and coexistence
Ruangyos Khamna, another Khon Kaen native, said locals do their best to coexist peacefully with stray wild elephants.
“We try to get home by 5pm, because that’s when wild elephants start foraging.”
He added that people often react with terror when they hear public warnings that wild elephants have been spotted nearby.