A bear mauled a villager who was foraging for wild food ingredients in a forest in Thailand.
Surachai Bunyong, 48, ventured into the woodland to collect rattan shoots for cooking when he came face-to-face with the beast in Chanthaburi province on May 11.
The villager said he was stunned when the bear, which was 'as big as a 200-litre drum', suddenly charged at him.
It closed the distance in one stride before swiping his upper arm with a claw.
Surachai screamed as the predator then sank its fangs near his left eye, leaving him bleeding on the forest floor.
He screamed for help until the spooked bear eventually retreated into the forest.
But while lying wounded, he spotted two bear cubs in a nearby tree shuffling towards him.
Surachai crawled towards his dropped gun and fired warning shots into the air, causing the bears to flee into the jungle.
Covered in blood, he staggered down the mountain until villagers found him.
He was rushed to Pong Nam Ron Hospital, where doctors treated him with more than 40 stitches.
The shaken villager said he is grateful to have survived the brush with death.
He said: 'I thought I was going to die. The bear jumped at me before I could even run away. It clawed my arm and bit my face, then I fell to the ground. I kept shouting for help because I was terrified it would kill me in the forest.
'I'm very lucky to still be alive. If I hadn't managed to scare them away, I don't think I would have survived.'
Surachai remains under close medical care due to concerns over possible infection.
In September 2025, a Thai villager survived after a wild Asiatic black bear ripped off part of his face while he was collecting fish traps in a forest in Prachinburi.
Kao Butsri staggered out of the woods with his eyeballs reportedly dislodged before horrified passersby found him bleeding beside the road near the Khlong Mai Plong Reservoir.
Rescue workers rushed him to Chao Phraya Abhaibhubejhr Hospital while forestry officers installed cages to capture the bear near Khao Yai National Park.
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