Bull in a china shop? No, it's an elephant in a grocery store

BANGKOK — A bare and mud-caked chaotic elephant surprised shopkeepers astatine a market store successful Thailand this week, ransacking shelves successful hunt of food.

The antheral elephant, known arsenic Plai Biang Lek, had wandered implicit from Khao Yai National Park into the adjacent municipality of Pak Chong, astir 125 miles northeast of Bangkok.

In a video posted online, the store owner, Kamploy Kakaew, tin beryllium heard scolding the elephant arsenic nationalist parkland workers effort to usher him out. Unperturbed, the carnal continues to munch connected assorted items arsenic helium dusts the level with crumbs and mud.

The voracious pachyderm finally backed retired of the store, a container of snacks inactive clasped successful his trunk.

A bare elephant raiding a market store successful Pak Chong, Thailand, connected Monday.Kanokporn Sriboon / AP

Kamploy said the elephant ate items she had bought astatine the marketplace that morning, including astir 9 bags of saccharine atom crackers, a sandwich and immoderate dried bananas.

“This sandwich, the full battalion was gone,” she said.

No 1 was hurt, she said.

Elephants, a awesome of royalty and spot successful Thai culture, are greatly treasured by its people. But the colonisation of chaotic elephants has dwindled implicit the past period to respective 1000 arsenic they are pushed retired of their habitats by improvement and poaching.

Encounters betwixt elephants and humans person been known to crook violent, and the state is trying to equilibrium protecting the nationalist with preserving the animals’ welfare.

Nat Sumon reported from Bangkok, and Chelsea Chan reported from Hong Kong.