this post was submitted on 04 Jan 2025
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Summary

Blanca Ojanguren, a 22-year-old Spanish tourist, was fatally attacked by an elephant at the Koh Yao Elephant Care sanctuary in Thailand while bathing the animal.

She was struck by its tusk, resulting in fatal injuries.

This tragedy highlights the risks of popular recreational activities involving elephants in Thailand.

It follows a recent fatal attack by a wild elephant on a Thai woman and adds to the 39 elephant-related deaths reported in 2024.

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[–] abysmalpoptart@lemmy.world 8 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

According to some basic research, it looks like Thailand is actually in the top 10 for least expensive country to travel to.

If the claim is that vacationing anywhere is too expensive, then the argument is a little pedantic. That sounds like the perspective of someone who just saw a YouTube video comparing income by country, and now thinks they fully understand global poverty differences.

If the claim is that it really is too expensive to travel to Thailand specifically, it is simply incorrect. Thailand is one of absolute cheapest countries to travel to "globally." Anyone in any country with enough money (and freedom of movement) for a vacation can travel to Thailand. Contrary to popular belief, this is based on comparative income, not global income. This means a lot of people can actually afford to travel to Thailand if they chose to. And, again, the person in question flew from Taiwan. Very cheap travel. (As a side note, this may be shocking, but some people take vacations when they cannot afford to.)

On average, a person in the USA who is homeless earns less than 50,000 per year. While, yes, 50k is a lot of money "globally," someone earning that much money in the USA may not be able to afford a home in their own country. That's why these kinds of comparisons are not helpful. You might as well call anyone who has ever lived or died "oxygen rich" because, universally speaking, dead or alive they have good oxygen levels compared to entire planets with no oxygen. It's a useless statement.

One final thought is paid vacation days. The USA is at the bottom globally of mandatory paid vacation days. Countries that may surprise you will actually pay you your salary while you travel for vacation, and you better believe they do travel.

So, globally speaking, no you don't.

https://en.tempo.co/read/1914697/top-10-cheapest-countries-to-visit-adventure-with-less-expense

https://www.kiplinger.com/personal-finance/spending/cheapest-countries-to-travel-to

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/cp/mapped-which-countries-get-the-most-paid-vacation-days/

https://www.wvlt.tv/2024/06/10/more-than-third-travelers-plan-go-into-debt-fund-summer-vacation-study-finds/