Sacred Tusks Returned to Lay Tong Ku.
Update on the sacred elephant tusks at Lay Tong Ku.
There was another epic report on GTR about a visit to this cult village and the elephant tusks, but sadly it was removed, deleted by a member.
In 2017 these tusks disappeared over night & ended up in Myanmar.
Stolen tusks returned but suspected ‘hermit’ thief still at large.
Tak’s Umphang district chief Pratheep Photiam on Monday led a 10-member team of officials to collect sacred elephant tusks stolen from a Karen village in Umphang last week from Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) officers who helped to locate the stolen items.
The elaborately carved artefacts vanished from a pavilion at Letongkhu village in Tambon Mae Chan on Friday.
(Friday 9 June 2017)
Pratheep’s team carrying the tusks and a Buddha image was escorted by DKBA soldiers back to the border with Umphang and was expected to reach Letongkhu village later on Monday.
The two century-old tusks were found at a newly opened ashram on Mulayit Mountain in Myawaddy province within DKBA territory, where Baisu had reportedly become a hermit and planned to use the sacred tusks to attract disciples.
Village leaders told police they suspected the former village headman had committed the theft as he had arrived at the village and asked to sleep in the pavilion area the night before the tusks were found missing.
Since 2017, they had been kept at the Umphang District Office after being stolen but later retrieved from across the border. Officials cited security concerns because theft remained a real risk.
Sacred Ivory Tusks Returned to the Long-Haired Karen at Letongku.
26 February 2026
The Karen village petitioned the Tak governor during his visit on Feb 20. The request was simple: return what is sacred to us. Now, the tusks have been handed back and have arrived in the village. For the Letongku community, this is not just the return of carved ivory, but the return of their spiritual centre.
For the villagers, the tusks were never museum pieces. They sit at the heart of the Rishi faith they practise -- a simple way of life that blends Buddhism with older Karen beliefs. It teaches kindness, strict moral conduct and respect for nature. The tusks are brought out in rituals and honoured on holy days. When they were taken away, it left a spiritual wound.
Sources:
Bangkok Post and
Thai Rath and
the Nation.
See also
9https://www.gt-rider.com/se-asia-motorcycling/threads/offroad-riding-from-sangkhlaburi-to-umphang-and-back-with-jungle-jack-aka-muddy-rider.11615/#post-57386)
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