2023 was a bloody 12 months in the ongoing saga of human-elephant conflicts in Thailand, marking the sixth consecutive year of escalating incidents. Records for 2023 show a disconcerting surge in encounters and casualties due to wild elephants across the country.
According to the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP), more than 13,000 incidents of wild elephant intrusion outside protected forest areas were reported during the 2023 fiscal year. These incidents resulted in 29 injuries, 21 deaths and extensive damage to crops and property belonging to local communities.
“We are living in constant fear of elephants. Though they are very intelligent animals, they are also very dangerous. They can be hostile to humans, and direct confrontations with them can be fatal,” said Wimwipa Ruangsri, a sugarcane farmer in Chachoengsao’s Sanam Chai Khet…
