It was a lesson Naiphum Promratee would never forget.
The 36-year-old’s life changed irrevocably when he visited a remote temple in rural Thailand and saw a “buffalo bear” living in a small enclosure with a community of monks.
Naiphum saw the powerful animal, which weighed 250kg, trapped in a small feeding space and decided to mock it by hanging bowls of rice over its head.
But one morning in the wet valleys of Phetchabun suddenly took a turn for the worse when the bear stood on its hind legs and dragged him down.
In an instant, Naiphum was dragged back into the compound, rendered unconscious and mutilated, the flesh being torn from his chest with ease.
Naiphum’s visit to a Thai monastery took a turn for the worse when Bing the bear attacked
Naiphum was dragged into the enclosure and mauled by the 250kg predator.
As it lay bleeding, Naiphum’s group attempted to scare the bear away with a large metal pole.
Naiphum is quickly helped out of the scene after the group distracts Bing the bear.
His friends tried to scare the bear away with a stick before jumping in to rescue him.
Naiphum was unable to get up as the bear dragged him around the enclosure with ease.
The victim was leaving the scene in August 2017.
Naiphum and four or five friends ventured to Wat Luang Phor Lamai temple in rural Phetchabun province on August 2, 2017 to see the small shrine at the site.
The monks keep about two dozen wild boars in a small enclosure and an eight-year-old bear, named Bing, in a cage, which they allow to feed guests.
Bpae Permpoonsap, of the Khon Khao Koo Pai rescue service, said the wild boars were outside in a nearby field while the bear wandered around its enclosure.
Just a day before their visit, the head abbot of Wat Luang Phor Lamai said some of the creatures were “hungry” because they were not being given enough food.
The temple had sought donations from the public to feed the animal.
It turned out that Bing was not among those supposedly suffering from malnutrition: he weighed more than twice as much as the average American black bear.
Naiphum is said to have made the trip to the temple after hearing about the miserable conditions.
But he made a huge error in judgment when he decided to suspend bowls of rice over the enclosure with a rope as if to taunt the animal.
Bears, as a rule, do not actively hunt humans. But if they are hungry, feel threatened, or familiar enough to have lost their natural fear of people, they can do it.
Bing the bear stood on his hind legs, grabbed Naiphum by the arm, and dragged him over a concrete barrier.
He then pinned Naiphum to the ground, knocked him out and dragged him towards the cage, tearing a lump out of his ribs under his armpit with his teeth.
Naiphum’s friends tried to rescue him with various instruments and water, but to no avail.
Naiphum was savagely attacked while his friends watched helplessly.
Terrifying footage showed onlookers trying in vain to scare away the bear as it attacked Naiphum.
His friends hit the bear with sticks and threw cold water on it, but to no avail.
The enraged animal continued biting and scratching Promratee for almost a minute before beginning to drag him around the dusty enclosure.
One of Naiphum’s group ran into the enclosure and hit the bear in its cage with a stick while his friends concentrated on rescuing it.
Emergency services arrived shortly after 11am local time and took the bloodied man to hospital, where he is now recovering and able to talk.
Bpae Permpoonsap explained: ‘The bear was among other creatures raised by the monks in the temple.
‘The man had gone to the temple with four or five friends and was playing with the bear.
“He attracted him and attacked him. We arrived and found the man seriously injured. He had been with his friends and wanted to feed the animals.
“He was lucky to survive and is now in hospital and can talk.”
Dr Kobchai Jirachanchai, deputy director of the Medical Division at Phetchabun Hospital, said Bing had inflicted deep wounds on Naiphum’s back and sides.
He said: ‘There were many bite and nail wounds. Additionally, there was a leak in the lung and it was expected to be a small puncture wound to the wound.
‘The patient also has acute kidney failure. It’s not dangerous. Recent symptoms have improved, but we will be watching for the next 48 hours.
“The patient can talk and interact with visitors.”
One of Naiphum’s group ran into the enclosure and hit the bear in its cage with a stick.
Terrifying footage showed onlookers trying in vain to scare away the bear as it attacked.
Bing also recovered. Two days after the incident, he was shot with tranquilizer darts and taken to a nearby wildlife center.
His keepers described Bing as generally well-mannered, but were concerned that he had become “very, very fat” because visitors continued to feed him.
Bing was taken to the nearby Khao Khao Kho Wildlife Aquaculture Station, nicknamed “fat camp”, and put on a diet.
Staff estimated Bing’s weight to be around 250kg, more than double the average weight of an American black bear, which typically weighs 110kg.
Suteer Loy, head of the Khao Kho Wildlife Aquaculture Station, said the bear had become obese due to being constantly fed by temple visitors and developed a “huge appetite”.
He said: ‘We have adopted the bear and we want to try to change its behaviour.
‘We will monitor it closely. He is very, very fat and now he must control his diet.’
Loy said it wasn’t the bear’s fault for attacking the man and trying to eat him, but rather it was simply its “natural instinct.”
He added: “He doesn’t have ferocious habits, he’s not aggressive, so it’s not a problem to take care of him.”
“But he has a food problem that we must correct.” He is greedy but friendly with other bears. “We are confident we can rehabilitate him.”
The monks of Phetchabun kept about two dozen wild boars and a bear in the monastery.
A spokesperson for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) told MailOnline: “If you make fun of a hungry bear, you’re likely to get hurt.”
“Bears are powerful predators that, in the wild, spend most of their time foraging and exploring home ranges that can span thousands of miles, and smart people respect them enough to leave them alone.
“They suffer immensely when trapped in sterile concrete pits, denied everything that is natural and important to them and left with nothing to do but walk around and beg for food, and often slowly go crazy. out of frustration.
“As long as this man got away with this, bears around the world will continue to live and die in misery as long as humans continue to imprison animals in the name of entertainment.”