Thailand Proposes 3 New Approaches to Wild Elephant Problem

Ms. Kunwalee Nopamongolbodee, Chairperson of the House of Representatives' Standing Committee on Land, Natural Resources, and Environment, has proposed three new approaches to resolve the persistent issue of wild elephants encroaching on farmland and harming villagers. The aim is to ensure the safety of both residents and elephants, with discussions scheduled with the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation on August 25th. "This issue is not the fault of any single party. Elephant pushing units work hard, risking their lives every night, and villagers have shown great patience. Elephants appear because food and water are scarce in the forest. All parties are suffering," Ms. Kunwalee stated. "The committee's role is to provide tools and help remove obstacles to make everyone's work easier." She noted that the subcommittee on budget for equipment and ICT has reviewed budget requests for fiscal year 2027, finding over 200 million baht requested for wild elephant pushing operations, while compensation funds are only 10 million baht. She suggested a review to balance the budget allocation between prevention and compensation for greater effectiveness. The goal is not to cut budgets but to ensure every baht is used efficiently, by identifying successful methods in areas with fewer elephant incursions and replicating them, while adjusting strategies in areas that are not yet effective. The committee's proposed approaches include three key components: 1. "Advance Elephant Detection": Utilizing GPS tracking technology and sensor cameras to monitor the behavior of problematic elephants that regularly travel specific routes to find food. Research cooperation from the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation will be sought to identify and intercept these elephants. An alert system will be directly linked to villagers' mobile phones. 2. "Effective Barrier Construction": Piloting physical barriers such as electric fences, elephant moats, or concrete barriers in 2-3 sample areas to assess cost-effectiveness before wider implementation. This aims to prevent the waste of budget and staff resources. 3. "Swift Compensation for Damages": Proposing an amendment to the budget system for delayed compensation. Discussions will be held with the Ministry of Finance to designate "wildlife-related disasters" as a disaster type under the 1992 Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Act, similar to floods, droughts, or storms. This would allow provincial governors to utilize emergency funds for immediate compensation to villagers without waiting for central budget allocation. Ms. Kunwalee emphasized, "When elephants destroy fields and orchards, it means the loss of a year's income for villagers. Damage occurs today, but compensation may arrive months later. This is not the fault of the Department of National Parks, but a systemic issue we must collectively solve." She expressed confidence that the long-standing problem can be resolved with cooperation from all parties. The goal is to ensure villagers receive advance warnings, officials have safe equipment, elephants have sufficient food in the forest, and compensation is delivered within weeks. The committee is ready to act as a central coordinator to facilitate this process. Source: INN News