Kingdom of the Elephants

I came back from my trip to Chiang Mai for about two weeks now. Chiang Mai is a beautiful place, and we had an absolutely fantastic time there. It’s not too commercialised like many of the islands off Thailand (read: too many caucasian tourists), neither is it so backwards that I can’t connect to the internet via wifi in my hotel room. And since I’m not a big fan of beaches, sun and sea, this sleepy little place is perfect for me.

This was a chill out trip for us, unlike what we did for New Zealand and France. We just wanted to chill and do some thing rather than cover hundreds of km a day.

Quick mention before I get to my point. If you’re thinking of taking a cooking class while in Chiang Mai, I highly recommend A Lot of Thai Cooking Class. I’m very impressed with Yui (owner, chef, instructor) and how she showered us with good ol’ Thai hospitality. And her cooking class is a whole lotta fun too!

Now, the real highlight of the trip was when we visted the Elephant Nature Park. This place doesn’t provide all the elephant trekking and shows which most tourists are used to. In fact, we did nothing but feed and bathe the elephants. This park in fact, rescues elephants who have suffered largely due to the booming tourist industry and the demand to see Elephants do silly tricks. As you can see from the pics, we had a great time just spending time with the elephants and really never needed to ride the elephant or see if do silly tricks.

You see, today’s Mahouts are driven by economic pressure since the boom of tourism. And because it now seems lucrative being a mahout and owning an elephant that can work for him, the bond of friendship and trust is becoming a contract of slavery and bondage for the elephant. And because in Thailand, an elephant is categorized as “livestock”, anyone can pay for a livestock licence and own one and exploit it to make money for the tourist trade. There’s an allegedly “traditional” way for man to tame the animal. It’s called the Phaajaan and it works on the simple premise that an elephant is tamed by physically and emotionally abusing it.

You can read more about it at helpthaielephants.com, and I’ve posted a little clip I found from the PETA website on YouTube.

I don’t believe that as tourists, we need to spend money on people or industries that continue with this practice. It’s unethical and certainly by any standards, cruel. Next time you go to Chiang Mai or any parts of Thailand and someone starts selling you an elephant ride or show, don’t go. Every cent you give will contribute to more elephants suffering. For a nation whose very history dates back to man’s relationship with Elephants for over 4000 years, it’s now in the hands of tourists and visitors to help preserve this once-sacred partnership between man and beast.