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| Elephants enjoying Napier grass grown to reduce overheads at the Phuket Elephant Sanctuary. Photo: Phuket Elephant Sanctuary |
This was a sad, yet absorbing topic to investigate.
Having travelled around Thailand intermittently during the lockdowns of 2020/2021 and seeing the effects of 'zero tourists' on so many places, I got to wondering about the country's elephant camps and what had happened to them.
I'd picked up a few hints of the problems involved during conversations with the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation in Chiang Rai and read an excellent article in National Geographic about the problems faced by Thailand's elephant sanctuaries and businesses as they attempted to look after (or failed to look after) their elephants - with essentially no tourist dollars coming in.
The Phuket sandbox travel scheme was about to start and it seemed prudent to focus on a sanctuary there, find out how they coped and their hopes as the holiday island opened up. This would give me a starting point for finding out how elephants across the country had fared.
It was great to interview Vincent Gerards from the Phuket Elephant Sanctuary and learn about the innovative initiatives that helped get them through. Turning to its tens of thousands of social media followers for help, the Phuket sanctuary didn’t just want to ask for money but instead “designed initiatives people could join from afar,” Gerards said.
For example, they produced “two short films, telling the story of two elephants’ daily routines and a mahout’s (elephant keeper’s) role in rescuing another elephant. Supporters can purchase exclusive access; all proceeds feed our herd,” said Gerards.
Gerards thought the sandbox would provide a ray of hope, but dark clouds are continuing to hang over Thailand's tourist industry.
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| Sangdeaun “Lek” Chailert of the Save Elephant Foundation Photo: Save Elephant Foundation |
I was lucky enough to be granted a phone interview with Sangdeaun “Lek” Chailert of the Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai. She has received international recognition for her years improving the lives of Thailand’s working elephants.
Chailert told me that elephants left unemployed during the pandemic were often sold because the elephant camps could not afford to keep them.
During my research, I unearthed a pair of videos posted on TikTok and Instagram, which show two separate elephants struggling to pull large timber trucks up muddy mountain roads in the jungle.
While it’s difficult to draw a direct link between unemployed elephants and the clips of them doing possibly illegal logging work, it is known that industry which once depended on their labor is one the owners have turned to when tourists stopped coming.
"Elephants are definitely doing this work during the pandemic. I’ve visited them myself,” Chailert said.
But some owners have sought better fates for their elephants. Some have contacted Chailert to offer their lucky elephants for sale – and the chance of a better life.
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| Tang Mo and Sang Mueng once entertained tourists under the threat of the bull-hook at Phuket Zoo. Photo: Moving Animals |
Before tourism collapsed, elephants Tang Mo and Sang Mueng performed three times daily for tourists at Phuket Zoo. Closed and looking to cut costs, the zoo turned to Chailert. At Elephant Nature Park’s expense, the pair were moved to its 250-acre jungle reserve in Chiang Mai where they are now free, no longer hustling for tourist amusement.
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| Tang Mo and Sang Mueng enjoying their new lives at Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai. Photo: Save Elephant Foundation |
Another positive outcome of the great crunch has been dialogue between the Chailert's Save Elephant Foundation and owners about improving conditions for captive elephants.
“Before the pandemic, I was talking to a brick wall. Elephant people thought I was their enemy. But now, many are interested in my views. They’ve seen my ethical model where elephants can be themselves out in the open and are asking how they can do the same,” Chailert concluded.
These hopes aside, it’s clear Thailand’s working elephants and the people that rely on them face real hardships until the tourists return. It is time for the government to meaningfully step in.
Please read the FULL ARTICLE HERE.
