Thailand zoo agrees to 300,000 yuan in compensation for Chinese tour guide death

A young Chinese tour guide was killed inside an elephant zoo in Thailand when he was rolled over by an angry elephant, thrown onto the ground and trampled to death on December 21. On Thursday, the zoo agreed to compensate the victim’s family 300,000 yuan ($45,000), Sina news reported (in Chinese).

The tragedy occurred when two Chinese tourists ignored warnings and insisted on taking photos with an elephant and pulling the animal’s tail. The elephant got angry and started chasing the two. The 34-year-old tour guide He Yongjia 何永杰 rescued the two tourists but was killed by the elephant.

After the incident, internet users in China overwhelmingly blamed the two tourists for the guide’s death. “Such a tragedy! Those two tourists should be responsible for his death. After all, it was their stupid behavior and ignorance that led to the tour guide’s death. I think their behavior was criminal!” one commenter said. Another said: “They should be sentenced to 7 years in prison on charges of negligent manslaughter!”

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