But only because they’re all (durian) thieves!

Ah, Thailand, the home of, well.. many great things but at this point, it’s durian crazed elephants. Yup. The elephants at the Kaeng Krachan National Park, Thailand’s largest national park, seem to be living the life. Not only do they live in the largest (and one of the best) national parks in the country, they also get to walk on up to durian stalls and eat durians like as if they own the place.

Earlier this week, the Dao Kaset Pa La-U agricultural store located in the park got stormed by a durian crazed elephant hellbent on getting his share of the king of fruits not just once, but twice! While it is unclear how many the bull elephant, which is said to most likely be in his teens, ate during his first visit to the store, the animal obviously didn’t get enough the first time.

According to the owner of the store, Siriphon Kerdsuchon, the elephant tore down a metal shutter that cost THB12,000 (RM1,600) on his first visit, before coming back later on the very same day and gorging more than 10 durians worth thousands of baht on top of destroying a freshly repaired door that was installed right after it’s initial visit. Talk about overkill.

An investigation has been launched and park rangers are in the midst of collecting evidence but compensation for the elephants raid into the store is probably going to take a while given that approval from senior officials is needed.

That being said though, it turns out that instances like these are not uncommon. Siriphon added that everyone pretty much just puts up with the wild elephant food raids and that humans and elephants have coexisted in the area for more than 15 years now.

Gotta hand it to the farmers in the area for being both patient and respectful of the magnificent creatures. To any elephants reading this, Kaeng Krachan National Park is the place to be my friends.