Unveiling the “Community Wild Elephants” of Khao Yai, Part 4:

"Khrae" is another popular Khao Yai community elephant who is second to none in the Mu Si area. Although he is just a teenager—barely 15 or 16 years old—his extensive experience from roaming the community since he was a small calf has given him quite a bit of street-smarts. He is a notable rival who causes quite a headache for the officers and elephant push-back volunteers.

From the officers' tracking, it was found that Khrae was in musth during 2024, which caused him to grow significantly taller and larger over the past year. He currently stands at about 2 meters tall.

The name "Khrae" (meaning "Dwarf") was given to him because he started appearing to people when he was still a very small, stunted calf. Even though he has grown much larger today, the people of Khao Yai still call him "Khrae" just as before.

Khrae's appearance can be identified by the scars and marks of experience covering his body. Notably, his left ear has a tear, his tusks are sharp, and both sides are splayed away from each other, with the left tusk sitting lower and longer than the right.

As for his behavior, because his left eye is damaged (it does not reflect light), Khrae is more paranoid of people than other elephants. His actions are difficult to predict; sometimes he'll suddenly run on a whim. He often acts cunningly, like a crafty movie villain whose motives—good or bad—are impossible to guess. This requires officers and volunteers to use high concentration whenever they have to push him back.

Another of Khrae's habits—which could be described as "losing his elephant ways"—is that he stays in the community almost all night. His daily routine involves rummaging through municipal trash cans. Whichever alley has a trash can, Khrae will be there. Importantly, he doesn't just stay for a short while; he stays all night long—or as the kids say, "until dawn".

For aggression levels (if there is a threat), on a scale of 1–5 stars, the officers and volunteers give him 4 stars.

As for the difficulty of pushing him back into the forest, from easy to hard (1–5 stars), even though Khrae is unpredictable, everyone agrees on a middle-of-the-road score of 3 stars.

Every day, the issues regarding Khao Yai’s community wild elephants continue in this manner. One thing that requires cooperation from tourists visiting Khao Yai is to be extremely careful when driving. Please do not drive too fast, because if an accident occurs, the damage could be fatal for either human or elephant—a loss that can never be recovered.

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