A tourist has been trampled to death in Thailand, and park officials believe the same wild elephant may be responsible for a series of fatal attacks. Authorities say it is the third confirmed death linked to the animal. The latest incident happened on Monday morning at Khao Yai National Park in central Thailand. 

A 65-year-old man from Lopburi province was walking with his wife when they came across a bull elephant known to rangers. The encounter quickly turned deadly. Park chief Chaiya Huayhongthong told AFP that the man was trampled and died at the scene. His wife survived after escaping and alerting rangers, who managed to scare the animal away.

Chief Huayhongthong said: “He was the third person killed by Oyewan,” using the elephant’s name. 

He also explained that several other unsolved cases may be linked to the same animal.

Officials now plan to meet on Friday to decide what to do. Chief Huayhongthong said, “We will probably decide to relocate him or change his behaviour.” 

Thailand has seen a rise in fatal elephant encounters in recent years. More than 220 people, including tourists, have been killed by wild elephants since 2012, according to the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation.

The number of wild elephants has grown sharply, too, increasing from 334 in 2015 to almost 800 last year.

The rise has led authorities to use contraceptive vaccines on female elephants to help slow population growth.

Tourists have also been caught up in deadly incidents across the country. In January last year, a Spanish woman was killed while bathing an elephant at a sanctuary in southern Thailand. 

Another tourist died in a national park in Loei province in northern Thailand in December 2024.

Elephant attacks have been reported in several other countries recently. Officials in India said last month that a rampaging elephant was responsible for killing at least 20 people and injuring 15 others in the forests of Jharkhand. 

Last July, two women from the UK and New Zealand were killed during a walking safari in Zambia. 

In April 2025, a 54-year-old man died after an attack in central Kenya. And in January last year, a tourist was killed by an elephant in South Africa’s Kruger National Park.

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