The six suspected elephants were travelling from Had Yai when complaints about the noise and pollution were made by several villagers living around the Noparat Elephant Camp in Kathu.
The elephants arrived at the check point in Thachatchai at around 10pm on October 2.
“The elephants were found holding incomplete licenses the morning after they arrived in Phuket,” said Weerasit Puttipairot, Phuket Provincial Livestock Office Chief.
“We initially didn’t block them as they appeared to have travelling licenses, but the next morning we discovered they didn’t have a permit to stay in Phuket.”
Vice Governor Somkiet Sangkhawsuthirak said, “There is no law to decrease the number of elephants in Phuket, it is only a policy. Other laws will be combined in order to make the policy effective.
“In this case, the elephants obviously do not have a permit but the Environment Act can be used, as the operator brought them into the area, caused pollution and disturbed nearby villagers.”
Prajiad Aksornthammakul, head of Phuket Provincial Office, also explained about the need to reduce the number of elephants due to the lack of natural resources and space.
“Around 10 years ago, there were almost 1,000 elephants in Phuket. There were many problems as we just don’t have the space, so the the governor launched the policy.”