‘Just another day in Thailand': Elephant enters store, leaves with rice crackers

Indian Express

2 days ago

A now-viral video has taken the Internet by storm, showing an elephant walking into a convenience store in Thailand's Khao Yai region, leaving viewers amused and awestruck in equal measure. The massive creature, later identified as Plai Biang Lek, a 23-year-old wild elephant from Khao Yai National Park, was seen poking around the aisles with his trunk, appearing surprisingly gentle despite nearly touching the ceiling of the store.
The video shows the towering elephant gently poking around the shelves with his trunk, nearly brushing the ceiling of the store. The text overlay on the clip read: 'Elephant enters store in Khao Yai, Thailand.'
According to The Independent, the incident took place at around 3 PM on Monday in Pak Chong district of Nakhon Ratchasima province.
The video, originally shared by @bangkokcommunityhelp on Instagram with the caption, 'An elephant casually walked into a convenience store in Khao Yai — just another day in Thailand! On its way out, the hungry visitor even grabbed some rice crackers for the road.' The video has garnered over 1.7 million likes and 69.9 thousand likes.
A post shared by Bangkok Community Help (@bangkokcommunityhelp)
Reacting to the video, one Instagram user said, 'Are we just gonna ignore the elephant in the room?'
Another user shared a personal experience: 'I encountered this one on the streets in Khao Yai. It's funny how dangerous they could be but how chill they actually are.'
A third wrote, 'Thanks for posting this, normally no one talks about the elephant in the room.'
Though villagers are accustomed to seeing Plai Biang Lek near the area, this was the first time he ventured inside a shop. As per Khaosod English, 'Locals are accustomed to seeing Plai Biang Lek passing by this particular store, but he has never before attempted to enter. This time, however, Plai Biang Lek surprised and alarmed the residents and store owner by walking right inside.'
The Bangkok Post reported that the elephant entered the store while the shop owner was attending to a customer. Both immediately panicked, fleeing the shop and alerting park officials.
This isn't the elephant's first close encounter with humans. In February, Lek made headlines after raiding a small restaurant in Nakhon Ratchasima. He wandered into the outdoor kitchen, knocked over chairs and kitchenware, and foraged for leftovers. It reportedly took about 30 minutes and metal poles to coax him back into the wild, said a report in The Independent.