PHUKET: A honeymoon couple is catching a flight from Phuket tonight after a compensation payment from an elephant trekking company - and a promise that Captain the rogue male will not be used to carry tourists again.

''Females are fine,'' Tetiana Meia said today from her bed at Phuket International Hospital in Phuket City. ''But I do hope they stop using males.''

Ms Meia, 26, is recovering from serious leg injuries after Captain's attack on Pancake, another trekking elephant, on September 12, two days after she and husband Artem Perepelitsyn arrived on Phuket.

The Ukranian couple were trapped in their seats by lap sashes on Pancake when the elephant tumbled onto its side as Captain gored her with his tusks, inflicting a wound through Pancake's four-centimetre thick skin that will require four months of treatment.

The owners of Camp Chang in Kalim visited the couple today with staff to hand over flowers and the cash compensation of $3200, and to wish them all the best. One owner, Tsin Khanvilaikhun, will be at Phuket International Airport tonight to farewell the couple.

''We have sent Captain to Phnag Nga and his future will be carting logs,'' said Khun Tsin. Captain was also involved in a rampage last year in which a Swedish man leapt in terror from the elephant's back and broke his legs.

Two strikes, and Captain is out. Male elephants, it seems, are best used for logging, not tourist treks.

Ms Meia hopes to be up and walking within two months, while husband Artem, 24, hopes his damaged ankle will recover within two weeks. A doctor will travel with them tonight to Bangkok then on to Kiev, with a flight home to Odessa to follow.

''We did our research before we came,'' Ms Meia said. ''We knew there was a danger in riding a motorcycle on Phuket, especially without a helmet.

''But elephants? We just didn't know about elephants.''

The nightmare rampage is not something she or her husband will forget quickly. But they know it could have been worse: a Swiss woman was killed when a male went on a rampage in Phang Nga earlier this year.

At the first recollection of the rampage today, Ms Meia's hands go to her face, and she sobs. Later, she shows the scars on her legs, where one plate has been inserted in her right shin beneath 31 stitches and another in her left thigh. Some abrasions are still healing, too.

Talking about her experience is probably going to prove to be good therapy, and as a travel agent it's a tale she will probably be asked to tell more than once.

Mr Perepelitsyn says they've been treated well at Phuket International and they may return to Phuket when the time comes for Ms Meia's plates to be removed. While elephant rides are out of the question, he and his wife say they are happy with the compensation settlement.

Phuketwan has been calling since February for Phuket trekking companies to use only female elephants.