NAKHON RATCHASIMA: An 80-year-old man sleeping in a tent in Khao Yai National Park was killed by a wild elephant in the early hours of yesterday.
The attack occurred in the camping ground at Pha Kluai Mai, between Pak Chong and Prachin Buri province.
Park officials and police called to the scene at about 1.50am found the stomped body of Prayot Jitbun, 80, of Samut Prakan province, and some panicked Thai and foreign tourists who were holidaying in the national park.
They told police that a wild bull elephant had walked around the victim's vehicle before the attack.
The elephant had become angry and suddenly attacked the tent the victim was sleeping in, stomping on it before seizing the man and throwing him through the air. Prayot had been slammed into a tree and died at the scene.
The elephant's roaring and trumpeting woke and frightened other campers, who ran for their lives.
A park official said the elephant was a bull named "Phi Due", who had been fitted with a tracking collar on Jan 8 to monitor his behaviour.
Prayot had set up his tent some distance from other visitors camping in the area. His car was parked next to the tent and had many kinds of fruit in it. They also found a lot of cash in the man's tent.
The elephant was probably hungry and drawn by the smell of the fruit, the official said.
Phi Due was in musth and therefore aggressive and easily frustrated, he added. Unable to get to the fruit, he had attacked the tent and the man sleeping inside.