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Police in Thailand have laid charges after an elephant in his care mauled a Spanish tourist to death last week.
Local authorities said on Monday that 38-year-old Terayut Intaphudkim has been charged with negligence causing death.
Tourist Blanca Ojanguren Garcia, 22, bathes an elephant at the Ko Yao Elephant Care Center in southern Thailand when she was attacked by an animal.
It has reignited concerns over Thailand’s booming elephant tourism industry, which animal rights groups have long criticized as unethical and dangerous.
Activists say bathing elephants disrupts natural grooming behavior and can injure the animals, putting them under unnecessary stress.
After the attack, experts believed that the elephant might have been under stress due to interacting with tourists.
Garcia suffered head injuries – and later died in hospital – after the elephant, 45-year-old female Phang Sombon, kicked her with its tusk. Her boyfriend, who was traveling with her, witnessed the attack.
The international charity World Animal Protection estimates that around 3,000 elephants are kept in tourist attractions across Thailand.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) told the BBC in a statement that “incidents like this highlight the dangers to both people and animals”.
“Any ‘sanctuary’ that allows people to touch, feed, bathe or interact closely with elephants in any way is not a sanctuary for elephants and puts the lives of tourists and animals at critical risk,” said SVP Peta Jason Baker.
Similar allegations of negligence have previously been brought against a mahout whose elephants killed tourists.
In 2017, an elephant camp owner and a mahout were charged with negligence causing death and injury after an elephant killed a Chinese guide and injured two tourists in the Thai beach city of Pattaya. In 2013, a 27-year-old elephant had its tusks cut off after it attacked and killed a woman.
Garcia, a law and international relations student at Spain’s University of Navarre, lived in Taiwan as part of a student exchange program. She and her boyfriend arrived in Thailand on December 26, 2024.
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albarez said the Spanish consulate in Bangkok was helping the Garcia family.
Additional reporting by Kelly Ng
