Latest news with #KhaosodEnglish
Indian Express
9 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
‘Just another day in Thailand': Elephant enters store, leaves with rice crackers
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.
The Star
2 days ago
- The Star
Wild elephant with a sweet tooth raids Thai grocery store
The male elephant was seen inside the grocery store, with his head and body brushing against the ceiling, snacking on food. - STAY IN THAILAND/FACEBOOK SINGAPORE: A grocery store in north-eastern Thailand had a larger-than-life freeloader – a wild elephant who casually strolled in to snack on some sweet treats before making an exit. The male elephant, named Plai Biang Lek, is well-known among locals near Khao Yai national park – about 200km from Bangkok – for his habit of venturing into nearby human settlements. He had previously wondered into a nearby village and raided a small eatery for food. However, his latest intrusion on Monday (June 2) marks the first time he has entered a grocery store. Videos and pictures on social media showed the elephant inside the packed store, munching on snacks while his head and body brushed against the ceiling. After satisfying his craving, he strolled out. The shop owner, known as Ploy, told Thai media that she was serving customers when the elephant ambled into the shop at 3pm that day, causing people to flee for their safety. She contacted officers from the national park, who arrived and tried to shoo it away. Undeterred, the elephant continued to look for food and scoffed down sweet, crispy Thai snacks and chicken eggs, reported Thai daily Khaosod English. His snack selection was interesting, the newspaper said, as elephants usually prefer salty food when raiding human settlements. The report added that the shop owner suffered 1,000 baht (US$31) in damage. - The Straits Times/ANN
Straits Times
2 days ago
- Straits Times
Trunk-and-run: Wild elephant raids grocery store in Thailand
The male elephant was seen inside the grocery store, with his head and body brushing against the ceiling, snacking on food. PHOTOS: STAY IN THAILAND/FACEBOOK A grocery store in north-eastern Thailand had a larger-than-life freeloader – a wild elephant who casually strolled in to snack on some sweet treats before making an exit. The male elephant, named Plai Biang Lek, is well-known among locals near Khao Yai national park – about 200km from Bangkok – for his habit of venturing into nearby human settlements. He had previously wondered into a nearby village and raided a small eatery for food. However, his latest intrusion on June 2 marks the first time he has entered a grocery store. Videos and pictures on social media showed the elephant inside the packed store, munching on snacks while his head and body brushed against the ceiling. After satisfying his craving, he strolled out. The shop owner, known as Ploy, told Thai media that she was serving customers when the elephant ambled into the shop at 3pm that day, causing people to flee for their safety. She contacted officers from the national park, who arrived and tried to shoo it away. Undeterred, the elephant continued to look for food and scoffed down sweet, crispy Thai snacks and chicken eggs , reported Thai daily Khaosod English. His snack selection was interesting, the newspaper said, as elephants usually prefer salty food when raiding human settlements. The report added that the shop owner suffered 1,000 baht (S$39.53) in damage. Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
The Star
3 days ago
- Business
- The Star
China and Thailand boost strategic ties with new military cooperation plans
Senior military officials from China and Thailand reached an 'important consensus' on strategic cooperation when they met on Thursday, according to the defence ministry in Beijing. The meeting was held between China's chief of joint staff, Liu Zhenli, and Thailand's top defence official, Songwit Noonpackdee, during his visit to the Chinese capital. The two military leaders 'reached an important consensus on strengthening strategic communication and deepening cooperation in joint exercises and training', according to a statement on Thursday. They also 'exchanged views on issues of common concern, such as relations between the two countries and their militaries and the international and regional situation'. Liu is a member of the Central Military Commission, the highest decision-making body of the People's Liberation Army. In a separate meeting with Songwit, Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun said ties between the two countries had endured 'the change of winds and clouds'. Songwit replied that the Thai side was willing to closely coordinate with China in multilateral affairs and 'jointly safeguard' the security and stability of the region, according to the Chinese defence ministry. The high-level meetings followed a series of diplomatic activities between China and the Southeast Asian country, which is also a traditional US ally in the region. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met his Thai counterpart last month and said Thailand was a high priority for Chinese diplomacy in the region. Chinese President Xi Jinping and Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra also met in February. The two countries have also deepened defence cooperation in the past decade, especially since the 2014 military coup in Thailand, with China replacing the US to become Thailand's top arms supplier. Their joint exercises have appeared to include more comprehensive combat elements since last year, as highlighted by their joint air drill, 'Falcon Strike 2024'. Most recently, the navies of the two countries concluded an exercise last month that focused on counterterrorism tactics and anti-submarine warfare. While joint exercises and arms sales between the US and Thailand have been scaled back, Washington has ramped up its strategic and defence dialogue with Bangkok in the past few years as Beijing's influence has expanded in the region. Thailand has imported a range of weapon systems from China, from armoured vehicles to air-defence systems. The two countries signed a deal in 2017 for Thailand to buy the first of three Yuan-class submarines from China for 13.5 billion baht (US$412 million). Bangkok has paid an instalment of 7 billion baht, but production has been stalled since 2022 due to China's inability to acquire a German engine because of Berlin's defence export limits. According to news site Khaosod English, Thai Defence Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said on Tuesday that he would decide by the end of this month whether to accept the submarine with Chinese engines or cancel the contract and lose '80 per cent of the costs of the submarines which has already been paid'. Citing Wechayachai, the Thai news site also reported that the Thai government had been asked several times by the Chinese ambassador to Bangkok about when it would proceed with the remaining payment for the purchase of the Chinese-made submarines. Bangkok had previously asked Berlin to reconsider the embargo of its submarine engine, but Germany has rejected the request.
Malay Mail
5 days ago
- Business
- Malay Mail
‘We're not ready for tourists': Phuket eatery owner pleads for public toilets after messy incident
PHUKET, May 30 — The owner of a floating restaurant in Rawai has urged local authorities to build more public toilets for tourists after catching foreign visitors defecating on his property. According to Khaosod English, Pannatat Asawapitakchon said the issue has happened twice, most recently on May 22, when he witnessed a female tourist relieving herself outside his restaurant after closing hours. He confronted her and asked her to clean up the area. His social media post about the incident has since gone viral, drawing widespread support and calls for action. 'At first she didn't accept responsibility, but after talking for a while, she went to clean the spot where she had defecated. But it wasn't clean enough, so I had to clean it again myself. That's why I want to ask the relevant agencies about public restrooms – I'd like them to build restrooms in the Rawai Beach area,' he told the daily. In his social media post, the owner explained that when his restaurant is open, tourists are welcome to use the restrooms, even if they are not dining there. 'But what happened at my restaurant shows we're not ready to efficiently accommodate tourists. I don't know if other business operators have experienced this,' he wrote. He concluded his post with a simple request: 'I ask those involved to help solve this small problem. It's not urgent, but I'm raising the issue for future improvements. In the meantime, I'll probably have to keep cleaning up urine and faeces myself.'
