The two parties claiming they own a female elephant at a tour camp in Phuket have until Friday to present freshly produced copies of their original elephant registration documents to police in the hope of resolving who – if anyone – legally owns the pachyderm, who was alleged to have been stolen from Krabi 14 years ago.
The deadline was leveled at a meeting held last Friday at the Amazing Bukit Safari camp in Chalong, where the disputed elephant is kept.
Present at the meeting were brothers Wan and Somsak Reangngern – both siblings who claim the elephant, which they call “Yo,” belongs to their brother, Chorp.
Officials asked the Reangngern brothers and the owner of the Amazing Bukit Safari camp, who calls the elephant “Nampetch,” to present fresh copies of their registration documents.
This comes after news that Raewat Chernkaew, 54, from Trang, arrived to tell officers that he sold the elephant in question to the camp for THB1.4 million just last month.
Raewat said he bought “this elephant” from a man he called “Norkam” for THB500,000 more than 10 years ago, but said he could not remember Norkam’s last name. However, he could recall that Norkam was from Tak. Raewat did not refer to “the elephant” by name.
“I have not been in contact with Norkam since,” Raewat said.
Also, he added, “I did not bring the registration documents with me. I need to go back and get them from my house.”
The Reangngern brothers will also have to travel back to Surin to source freshly issued official copies of the registration documents they have presented to claim the elephant.
Both parties must present all documents to Chalong Police, who will send all evidence to the police station in Krabi where Wan and Somsak initially filed their missing elephant report 14 years ago.
The freshly issued documents should resolve confusion over the microchip implanted in the elephant, which Phuket Livestock officials last week confirmed has the ID number 121-675-455.
That number corresponds with documents presented on behalf of Chorp from Surin, but does not correlate with the number in the documents for “Nampetch” as presented by the safari camp.
A second check of the microchip last week revealed that microchip implant also carries the letter “A” in its registration number, Phuket livestock officials revealed on Friday.
The documents presented by both the Reangngern brothers and the safari camp do not include the letter “A” in the ID number.
Meanwhile, the Amazing Bukit Safari camp owner reiterated that he refuses to hand over the elephant, as he has already made plain.
“My claim is legal, and I cannot give it back as it was very expensive,” he said.
Story: The Phuket News
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