Sornkhwan Uthaitham, a resident of Ban Pa Lau village, shared photographs of a wild elephant enjoying pineapples from a truck on Hua Hin’s Highway 5062.
Sornkhwan tells Bangkok Post that the “big wild elephant” used its leg to stop the moving truck, and with its trunk, reached for the fruit in the truck’s bed.
These snacky elephants have also crossed paths with local pineapple dealers, such as Suwan Kaeopoltrang and his wife, Suthida Jitjampee. Twice, the couple encountered wild elephants while on their way to a factory in Kui Buri.
They saw them as recently as Monday. From the side of the road, a pachyderm made himself at home by leaning on their truck as he ate pineapples from the bed. The large elephant’s leaning left a dent in the truck and even shattered a mirror.
Just two nights before that, on Saturday, the couple and their toddler son were on their way to deliver pineapples, when a one-tusked elephant emerged from the forest and blocked the road in order to get more sweet,sweet fruit. It then used its trunk to devour 100 kilograms of pineapples. For nearly an hour, the truck and its inhabitants were stuck while the animal ate. In the end, noises from the engine scared the elephant away — though its roaring scared the family
This violent behavior has never been a norm for the local elephants.
According to Suthida, they have only been targeting large trucks, and no other vehicles.
Maybe they know that is where the most fruits are ferried.
