Phuket police are currently looking for a mahout who has enslaved his five-year-old elephant and made the animal work on various beaches to earn money from tourists.
The mahout, who is of Asian ethnicity, was seen walking along Bang Tao beach with his elephant on Wednesday. He asked tourists to buy fruits he carried, which they could feed to the elephant.
In a 39-second video, taken on Wednesday, the recorder who encounters the mahout asks which company the mahout comes from, but he just shakes his head.
Cherng Talay Police Cheif Lt. Col. Jarun Bangprasert told The Phuket News yesterday, “If we can find them we will ask for the mahout’s identification and his paperwork for owning the elephant. We will also ask the mahout the purpose of him having the elephant on the beach. After that we will contact the relevant officials.”
Piyawat Sukon, a chief of the Khao Phra Thaew Non-Hunting Area Office in Phuket said, “Until we receive information from officials or police on the whereabouts of the elephant we will not be able to take any action. However, if we find that the elephant has been taken from the wild it will be our responsibility to deal with the issue.”
“If it is found that the elephant has not been taken from the wild, it will be down to the Livestock Office to take care of the matter and make sure the elephant is sent to Lampang province,” he said.
“The beaches of Phuket are not ideal places for a wild elephant to be,” he added.
Story: The Phuket News
