PRACHUAP KHIRI KHAN — An elephant with an appetite for durian raided a storeroom Sunday in the west of Thailand, eating about 40 of the fruit and causing 70,000 baht in damage.
At about 3am, the large male elephant used his tusks to knock down the wall of the Huai Sat Yai Agriculture Cooperative in Hua Hin, at which point he proceeded to devour the Pala-u durians inside.
“This happened twice in 10 days already,” Prasert Kanchanawanit, manager of the cooperative said Monday. “He ate almost 40 durian and broke the aircon, wall and door. The air conditioner alone costs 40,000 baht.”
Workers in the area tried to chase the elephant away, but he stood his ground and continued eating. The elephant only left after he was full of delicious durian, Prasert said.
The pachyderm plunderer struck just six days after repairs were completed on the storehouse from the last elephant who raided it. He thinks they’re working as a team.
“It’s not the same elephant,” he said. “They trade off who comes here.”
Prasert and his cooperative is weighing some preventative measures, such as posting more guards or installing an alarm, but they’re realistic about their prospects.
“If there wasn’t a guard here yesterday, the elephant would’ve eaten everything,” he said. “I don’t know how we’re gonna prevent it. They just come anyway.”
