BURIRAM — 14 May 2026, a Thai villager leading efforts to drive wild elephants away from communities near the Dong Yai forest was killed after being attacked by an elephant inside a village in Buriram province, local residents said.
Weera Ratchawong, 66, chairman of the Dong Yai Wild Elephant Watch Network, was attacked at about 04:00 in Ban Khlong Hin Lat village in Non Din Daeng district while attempting to push elephants away from residential areas.
Residents living along the Dong Yai forest boundary said such incidents had become increasingly common, with several people reportedly killed by wild elephants each year as the animals frequently entered villages in search of food.
Prasit Jupamatang, 61, a wild elephant patrol officer in the Dong Yai Wildlife Sanctuary, said he arrived after receiving reports of the attack but found Weera had already died.
Weera’s wife said local elephant patrol volunteers normally travelled in groups of 14 when responding to reports from villagers, but her husband often went out alone. She said elephants had entered the village several times during the night before the fatal attack, with Weera leaving alone again shortly before 04:00.
Manat Yiamram, village headman of Ban Khlong Hin Lat, said wild elephants entered the community almost every day, usually in groups of one to three animals.
He said villagers were living in fear and called on authorities to address the situation more seriously, adding that residents believed the elephant population had grown beyond the forest’s capacity and that attacks causing deaths occurred in nearby communities every year.
