British tourist trampled to death by Thai elephant

The elephant, named Golf, was tranquillised and brought under control after throwing a British tourist and his daughter off its back and killing the man.

Bangkok // A British tourist has been trampled to death by an elephant on the Thai tourist island of Koh Samui.

The man, identified by police as Gareth Crowe, 36, was riding on the animal’s back with his daughter on Monday when it suddenly threw them off, police said on Tuesday.

“We suspect that the hot weather made the elephant angry and that he was not accustomed to his trainer,” said Paiboon Omark, Samui district chief.

Mr Paiboon said Crowe had a prosthetic leg and was unable to run away from the marauding elephant.

His daughter and the trainer, a Myanmar national, were injured but escaped and were out of danger, he said.

The elephant, named “Golf”, was tranquillised and brought under control, Mr Paiboon said.

A spokesman at the British embassy said they were aware of the incident and were providing assistance to the victim’s family.

Thailand has about 4,000 domesticated elephants.

The country’s use of animals for tourism is under increased scrutiny after a string of scandals and investigations by rights groups.

The government is currently locked in a battle with a controversial “tiger temple” that refuses to hand over hundreds of big cats despite holding them illegally.

Conservationists are meeting with Thai government officials on Wednesday to lobby for better animal welfare standards across the tourism trade.

“In my view, male elephants should not be in the tourism industry, they’re simply too unpredictable,” said Edwin Wiek, from Wildlife Friends of Thailand, one of the groups attending the meeting.

Mr Wiek said that almost all deaths of trainers and tourists during rides in recent years had involved male elephants, sometimes when they were on heat.

* Agence France-Presse