Rescuers struggle to save unemployed Thai elephants from worse than exploitation.

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. 

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.

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.

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. 

 

Pupils will never forget their virtual elephant safaris

I haven't written much about the Education for Sustainability projects I work on at school in my capacity as Environmental Sustainability Co-ordinator, but this one stood out as somewhat unique. 

It was one of the more eye-catching emails to arrive in my inbox. 

“Would your pupils like to meet our elephants on an educational online call?”

I was keen to read on. 

The Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation offered my school live elephant safaris over Google Meet Photo Credit: GTAEF

The offer was from the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation (GTAEF), a conservation group that runs an elephant sanctuary located approximately 900 kilometres north of Bangkok at the remote point where the borders between Thailand, Myanmar and Laos meet. A very different place from the city based international school where I teach. 

We were in a second round of online learning due to the pandemic and pupils had been learning from home for nearly a month. The answer was an obvious - yes! 

It was great to work closely with Laddawan Yonthantham and John Roberts of the GTAEF. Armed with a laptop, smartphone and selfie stick, they took the whole of the primary school (that's around 970 pupils) on a series of virtual field trips to meet the elephants they care for. 

Children were delighted with the elephant's fun loving-antics Photo Credit: GTAEF

The project's success prompted me to pitch the story to the TES and they kindly asked for a full write up. The full article can be read here. It was also published in the TES magazine itself. Click this link for the tearsheet.

It was good to have the chance to point out to the wider TES audience of educators that: despite the pandemic and resultant move to online learning, we can find new and innovative ways to engage pupils in real-world experiences that boost learning –  and highlight the real people working to solve our conservation and sustainability problems. 

Such learning brings not only reality to pupils, but also hope. Hope that we really can fix the planet on which we all depend.

The GTAEF continues to offer virtual field trips to schools worldwide, and can offer virtual elephant safaris to suit a variety of timezones. Don't hesitate to get in touch if you would like your school to be involved. 

Unsung trash heroes save Bangkok from choking on its own waste

Uncle Ban has spent the last decade collecting unwanted waste from people's homes, earning enough to pay for his children's education Photo: Ewen Mcleish

For a long time, I'd been considering a feature article investigating Bangkok's informal waste collectors. These independent workers scour the streets looking to buy or scavenge recyclable materials discarded by the city's waste generating inhabitants. 

My Thai's ok for day-to-day life, but the language barrier blocked my way. Until I met Pavini Sethi of Beesgreen, who also saw these workers as playing a valuable part in our haphazard recycling system. 

Fluent in Thai, she was tireless in searching out a 'seleng' operator who would be willing to be interviewed, and found Uncle Ban working the sois near my work and her home. Thank-you Pavini!

Uncle Ban was a little surprised by my questions, but answered patiently all the same. It was really interesting to hear about his life and his pretty positive view of his work. 

My prejudices were overturned as I'd expected to hear a story of poverty and lack of opportunity, but instead Uncle Ban displayed a kind of determined, gentle contentment about his occupation and life in general. 

Selaeng operators sell recyclables to medium sized businesses who sell to Thailand's larger recycling companies. Photo: Ewen Mcleish

To add some academic background to the article I drew upon the case study 'Closing the Loop: Sai Mai District' produced by the Stockholm Environment Institute and UNESCAP.  It was great that Diane Archer, an author of the study, was able to provide extra details about the situation of informal waste collectors in Bangkok. 

It was also good to come across other businesses and projects in the sector, such as 'Recycle Day' and Less Plastic Thailand (provides a great beginners guide) in the course of my research. 

A 'selaeng' fully loaded and ready to go; all sorts of consumer waste can be resold and used again.     Photo: Ewen Mcleish

One thing that struck me as I put together the piece was the need to raise the status of these informal recyclers so they can gain some recognition for their important environmental work. 

If properly supported, they could be key to ramping up Bangkok's recycling system and clearing up the mess made by throwaway capitalism. 

I hope this article goes some way to persuade more people to take note and support a system for recycling which is already up and running in Bangkok, and on which many livelihoods depend.

Please click through to Coconuts to read the full article. 

Before it spawns the next pandemic, should Thailand stamp out the wildlife trade?

I was excited to see this article published by Bangkok Coconuts. I feel it highlighted the connections between the human exploitation of nature and emerging new diseases - crucial to understanding the Coronavirus pandemic. 

Experts consider bats to be high risk species when it comes to the emergence of new diseases.
Photo: Freeland

I was grateful to Steven Galster of the Bangkok based Freeland Foundation for taking the time to talk to me. 

Here’s the lowdown: With wild animals smuggled through Bangkok’s Khlong Toei port, sold at Chatuchak Weekend Market and exported for sale onward; Thailand is a nexus for the global wildlife trade, and Galster thinks a law banning the commercial trade in wild animals may protect us from the next viral disaster.

Galster has been interviewed by a number of news organizations  about Freeland's campaign to ban the  commercial trade in wild animals. Image: Freeland. 

Not everyone agrees with Freeland and backs a blanket ban. Richard Thomas, spokesman for trade monitoring group Traffic, says total bans are a knee-jerk reaction that are extremely difficult to implement and enforce. He cites the drug trade as an example.

“If the underlying demand persists, it’ll be supplied,” Thomas said.  Big players like the UN Environment Programme, or UNEP look to governments to manage things instead. 

I certainly learned a lot about this troubling situation and received some great comment from readers both on and offline: 'Fascinating, terrifying and superbly written.'

I concluded the article by making the point that: we need to recognize the link between our commercial use of wild animals and new pandemics; to safeguard humanity's future health we should rethink our relationships with our fellow species. 

Of course, reducing the risk of future pandemics is not the only reason we should follow this advice! 

The original article is here, and it also appeared on Singapore's Yahoo Lifestyle site. Please take a look at the full piece.