Thai elephant raids convenience store, eats snacks and leaves without paying

The large male pachyderm, known as Plai Biang Lek, has become a well-known figure in the area due to his forays into human settlements

A convenience store in northeastern Thailand has had to contend with an unusual shoplifter – a large male elephant who scoffed down boxes of rice crackers before casually walking out.

The daylight robbery has gone viral in Thailand after the “Here is Khao Yai” Facebook page posted a video on Monday afternoon showing the giant creature – known locally as Plai Biang Lek – ambling into the shop, head brushing the ceiling, guzzling snacks, and then strolling out.

The local store, in Pak Chong district, about three hours northeast of Bangkok, is not far from Khao Yai National Park, where wild elephants are frequently seen leaving protected areas to forage for food.

Thais chuckled at the unexpected human-elephant interaction in a region where such encounters, while not uncommon, rarely play out in convenience stores.

“Would you like some pork buns?” one Facebook user quipped, while others teased the elephant for its apparent criminality.

“Did you forget to pay for your food, Biang? Have you scanned?” joked another post.

Plai Biang Lek has become a well-known figure in the Khao Yai region due to his frequent forays into human settlements. In another notable incident caught on video, he raided a restaurant kitchen in Nakhon Ratchasima province while the owners were asleep, attracted by the smell of food.

Estimates for Thailand’s wild elephant population vary between 3,700 and 4,400, scattered among dozens of national parks. But their habitat is increasingly being squeezed by development and large-scale farming, leading to more frequent human-animal conflict. Elephants are occasionally shot by farmers angry at herds pillaging their crops or are electrocuted by fences erected to keep them out.