Chinese Tour Guide Died After Rescuing Tourists from Elephant in Thailand

Elephant in Thailand
Elephant in Thailand (photo: Pexels)
By M. GraceDecember 22nd, 2017

One Chinese tour guide was trampled to death by an elephant on Thursday evening, December 21 in Thailand.

The owner of the popular elephant camp in Bang Lamung District named Au Yungram said that two foreign female tourists were riding on the back of a teenager elephant named "Plai Uthen" when they were surrounded by about dozen of tourists of the same group, wanting to take photos of the elephant too.

While tourists surrounded the elephant, one of the tourists pulled its tail, causing it to be angry and charge into the crowd of tourists. One of the women who road onto him was thrown off the animal's back while the other one managed to hang on.

According to a report by Chinese media outlet, the tour group was from Chongqing. The elephant reacted that way because tourists yanked its tail twice and refused to listen to their tour guide's warnings.

He Yongjie, the 34-year-old Chinese tour guide tried to rushed in to rescue the tourists but he then found himself being knocked to the ground and trampled on by the frightened animal.

The Chinese tour guide died because of the severe injuries he had on his head and chest. The two women who rode the elephant were also rushed to the hospital.

"This kind of tourists should be forbidden from leaving the country to stop innocent people from getting hurt," a netizen said on Weibo after the incident sparked firestorm against "uncivilized" Chinese tourists going abroad.

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