HUA HIN: A woman on the way to visit her ailing mother was found stomped to death by wild elephants by a roadside near Kaeng Krachan National Park on Friday.

Saichon Sriprawat was found lying face-down in the bushes at Thung Krathing village in tambon Bueng Nakhon when police arrived at the scene, said Pol Lt Col Anek Silalertsakul, an investigation officer at Nong Plap station, who was alerted at 10am on Friday.

The woman’s clothes were torn, her right shoulder was crushed and she had a deep wound to her stomach. Her skull was fractured and legs broken. Elephants’ footprints were found nearby.

Her husband told police that his house was about five killometres from the spot where his wife's body was found. She had left home on Thursday evening to visit her sick mother and wash clothes there. When she did not return home, he went out to look but could not find her. A villager found her body the next morning and informed him.

Mana Permpoon, chief of the national park, said the forest area where the body was found was adjacent to the national park and had been encroached on in the past and turned into pineapple plantations, covering about 100 rai. Officials had seized the land back and wild elephants were often spotted there.