At 4pm yesterday (Mar 24), Cdr Surasak Inphrom of the Royal Thai Navy Third Area Command in Phang Nga together with fellow Navy officers and the brother of the owner of a female elephant named “Yo” went to Chalong Police Station to file a report stating that an elephant at an elephant camp in Chalong is an elephant named Yo who was stolen from Krabi 14 years ago.
Mr Somsak Reangngern, 35, Yo’s mahout and the younger brother of the owner said, “Yo was registered in Surin province in July 2001, shortly after I took Yo to work in Phuket and Phang Nga.
“In 2003 Yo and myself were working in Krabi and Yo was pregnant. One day after finishing work I tied the elephant in the forest near the elephant camp, when I returned in the morning Yo was gone.
“I have been searching for Yo ever since,” he said.
“Last week I got sent a photo of an elephant being kept at the Chalong elephant camp and I was sure that the elephant is Yo so today I have come to file the report with the Chalong Police.
“The Chalong elephant camp have registration documents for their elephant, which they say is named ‘Nampetch’, those registration documents are different to mine,” he added.
“I checked with Phuket Provincial Livestock Office and found that the microchip in the elephant at the Chalong camp, numbered 121-675-455, matches with Yo.
“However, the people from Chalong elephant camp are adamant that this elephant is Nampetch and have the registration documents which they say prove it.
“I just want my elephant back and want to go back to Surin province tonight. I said thank you to Cdr Surasak for helping me,” Mr Somsak concluded.
Chalong Police have said that the microchip in Nampetch will be checked today so that this matter can be resolved.