The meditation center where a makeshift electrical fence killed three elephants was found to be built illegally and will be demolished.
Burapha Padhungthai, the 56-year-old owner of the Asom Burapa meditation site in Prachuap Khiri Khan province was formally charged yesterday after officials found his facility was built on royal project land set aside four decades ago for poor farmers.
Burapha said he had no idea when he bought it about a decade ago and has paid taxes on it annually. He promised to leave the 53-rai site and tear down the buildings.
Since the deaths of the three wild elephants, police have asked farmers not to build electrified fences to keep out wild animals. Meanwhile they vowed to examine more public properties and see if more have been “sold,” Bangkok Post reported.
