SA KAEO: A citizen policeman who tried to drive a wild elephant away from his community single-handed at night was later found trampled to death in a sugarcane field in Khlong Hat district.
On Thursday morning the headman of Hin Kong village, Anant Yaemchai, was informed the body of a dead man had been found in a sugarcane field. Police and an ambulance were called to the scene.
The dead man was wearing a long-sleeved shirt and jeans and was lying on his back. His clothes and face were covered with blood and his body pounded partly into the ground. There were many elephant footprints around the area.
He was identified as Ampai Wunnakul, 52, who served as a volunteer citizen policeman in his community. He had been helping state officials, locals and staff from Khao Ang Rue Nai Wildlife Sanctuary drive a wild elephant away from the village on Wednesday.
The headman called off the operation when night fell, deeming it too dangerous to continue in the dark, Khlong Hat station investigator Pol Capt Sukchai Wunnongsa said.
“The headman called off all efforts to move the elephant away at 7pm. However, Ampai apparently continued driving the elephant away by himself,” Pol Capt Sukchai said.
The area was steeply sloped and Ampai's flashlight may have startled the elephant, which attacked him.
The headman had earlier been informed that an elephant from Khao Ang Rue Nai Wildlife Sanctuary was making its way towards the area, and had warned the village.
Supee Wunnakul, Ampai’s wife, said she knew her husband had gone out to help drive off the elephant, but was not concerned when he did not come home at night because they were both busy people.
“When I was told that my husband had been trampled by an elephant nearby, and after seeing it for myself, I completely lost it,” Ms Supee said.
“We are poor. Together we have 5 children and today we have lost the head of the house. How are we going to survive?”
The elephant has since made its way to an adjacent district.