Executive Summary
Conflict between man and wild elephant is not a
new phenomenon in Thailand. Some significant
events, especially crop raiding by wild elephants,
occurred during the second half of the 19th and 20th
century, when people encroached into the prime
elephant habitats in wetlands, lowland forests and
in the uplands to grow rice and other economic
plants for export. Blocking train transportation by
wild elephants was another type of the conflict at
the turn of the 20th century. Setting fire around the
paddy, elephant captures (for domestication for
timber industries), chasing, relocation and poaching
for tusks were direct and indirect measures to
reduce the damage and decline wild elephant
numbers as well. In the past, wild elephants always
lost in the conflict game. While Thailand becomes
one of the largest producer and exporter of food in
the world but many elephant populations have gone
extinct and/or compressed in sub-ordinate habitats.
Their remained habitats had reduced in size and
isolated. However wild elephant populations and
their habitats have been protected since 1960 by the
National Park Act of 1960 and Wild Animal
Reservation and Protection Act of 1961
(amendment in 1992).
Man and wild elephant conflict has been reported
again since 1990 at the croplands adjacent to the
first wildlife sanctuary of the country (Salakphra
Wildlife Sanctuary). Then, the conflict incidents
have been known to occur more and more with vary
intensity from twenty protected areas, mainly in the
west, east, northeast and south of the country.
However, the conflict between man and wild
elephant in the present time is different from the
past time because the elephant conservation has
deserved attention from the general Thai public.
The projects resolving carried out by the Royal
Initiated Projects and governmental organizations
have provided advantage to the elephants