Forbidden fruit: the elephants crashing in on villagers

It was around midnight when Kitti chai Boodchan heard two loud crashes coming from in front of his home. He knew immediately what was happening. An elephant was outside, and it wanted the family’s stash of bananas.

Boonchuay, a bull from Kaeng Krachan national park notorious for his habit of raiding the village in search of snacks, had come to call. Kittichai had bought 200kg of bananas to sell and, although stored inside, the scent had piqued Boonchuay’s interest.

Kittichai leapt out of bed and began slamming the door and shouting to try to scare the elephant away. Boonchuay, undeterred, continued to ram his head into the wall, cracking through the structure. He stopped only after about 10 or 15 minutes, when, unable to reach the