An Elephant Wanders Into a Grocery Store and Steals Crackers, a Sandwich and the Internet's Heart

Yahoo

18 hours ago

In Thailand, a wild elephant lumbered into a grocery store and helped himself to all the goods as if he was taking over the place. Now, the male elephant known as Plai Biang Lek is taking over the internet, too.
Plai Biang Lek entered a store in Pak Chong, Thailand, after finding his way there from Khao Yai National Park, according to NBC News.
Video of the incident circulating on social media shows the giant animal, plastered in mud, the inside of the small store as he towers over a wall of shelves packed with snacks and groceries. The store's owner, Kamploy Kakaew, and national park workers can be heard trying to wrangle the elephant out of the store as he munches away, seemingly unfazed.
Speaking to NBC News, Kakaew recalled how the behemoth managed to feast on several items from her morning haul, including dried bananas, nine bags of sweet rice crackers and a sandwich.
'This sandwich, the whole pack was gone,' she said.
Plai Biang Lek was eventually escorted from the shop's premises without anyone being harmed. Still, he didn't leave the store empty-trunked. The video shows him making his departure with a parting snack tucked against his chest.
The chaos and crumbs left behind might have been local to Thailand, but the laughs and comments are now global. On Instagram and TikTok, users have reacted to the video with amusement and affection, with TikTok calling Plai Biang 'impossible to ignore.'
'That elephant was being very mindful, very demure,' one user commented on Associated Press' Instagram page.
'Previous human looking for favorite snacks in the afterlife for sure,' replied another.
''Hello boss?'' one replied, leaning into the absurdity. 'So, it's just that I don't know where to start.''
'Insurance company: a WHAT entered the store?' someone quipped.
'They'd love Costco,' chimed in another.
'This sounds like a math problem,' one user mused. 'If one elephant eats 3 apples, how much will it cost to replace the ceiling?'
'Me in the kitchen at 2 am,' came another joke.
Khao Yai National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located some 114 miles away from the city of Bangkok, according to the park's website. It is a home to a diverse range of wildlife, including reptiles, birds and mammals like Plai Biang Lek.
In Thailand, elephants are cultural figures of royalty and strength. While deeply respected, their numbers have dropped significantly due to poaching, habitat encroachment and the increase of human-elephant conflicts, according to the World Wildlife Fund. In 2020, the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP), started a plan to ease these conflicts by increasing food and water resources for animals within their protected habitats.
This article was originally published on TODAY.com