The Chang Nam, or Water Elephant, is native to the jungle streams of Thailand. Its equivalent in Myanmar is called the Ye Thin.
Description[]
A Chang Nam or Ye Thin looks like a miniature replica of an elephant. It is no bigger than a rat but has a trunk and sharp little tusks and all the hallmarks of elephants.
These water elephants are extremely dangerous. Merely seeing a chang nam’s shadow causes instant death. A Chang Nam will also stab footprints and reflections in the water with its tusks, bringing about the death to the owner of the footprint or reflection.
hoax[]
It seems uncertain whether the chang nam has a purely supernatural origin or if it has some real animal as its basis. Nonetheless, the myth of very small elephant species with power of killing a man by poking his shadow with tusks is very unrealistic... Stuffed Chang Nam skins are available for sale to gullible tourists; these are manipulated frog or rodent skins with tusks attached.
References[]
Wood, W. A. R. (1965) Consul in Paradise: Sixty-nine Years in Siam. Souvenir Press, London.
www.abookofcreatures.com