Elephants have been a very important figure in Thai history, helping in agriculture, work and in general to develop the country. Nowadays they are used mainly for touristic reasons. You can go an see them working with logs of wood, or even painting with their tusk. Or you can ride them on an organised jungle trek. However here are some reason why you should NOT DO these activities.
Working and painting elephants are usually trained in extremely painful ways, since they are babies. The way they are trained is by being poked with stick with nails at the end when they don't follow orders, and being their skin quite tough they get poked where it hurts: eyes and ears. They showed us a video at the Elephant Nature Park and it was painful just to watch it.
Feeding the Elephants "the proper way" at Elephant Nature ParkRiding elephants is not that bad, but the huge saddle they put on their backs to comfortably carry you around is quite heavy and uncomfortable for them, often leading to back problems (like in the case of the elephant Khun Min). On top of that they have to endure never ending shifts to support the tourists demand, and in worse cases they are trained like the “painters” elephants, sometimes drugged to endure long shifts and generally mistreated.
The worse thing you could do as tourist is support the cruel activity of bringing elephants to big cities as a tourist attraction by feeding the elephants on the streets of Bangkok or Chiang Mai. It doesn't take a genius to understand that the center of a huge, noisy and polluted metropolis is not the best environment for a baby elephant. If you look at these small elephants you'll see them rocking forward and backward at all times. A clear sign of stress. So once again don't support the people behind this business by buying overpriced bananas and sugarcanes to have a picture of yourself feeding them.
So what do you then at the Elephant Nature Park then? Well you spend a day simply.. hanging out with the elephants. Looking after them and learning all explained above and a lot more about these great creatures.
I booked online through the official website, saving on agency or hotel commission. They come and pick you up wherever you're staying. First stop then is a the fruit and veg market, where you browse around a bit before helping loading trucks with the elephants lunch. Would you believe they eat 250kgs of fruits and veg a day? I struggle with my 5-a-day!
Then after a bit of a ride you arrive to the Park. The place is basically a sanctuary for mistreated elephants. While there you get to know them (personally), feed them (the proper way) and hear their stories (well, not from them). Some of them have a very rough past, and it's great to see them fully recovered and happy. The Elephant Nature Park acts like a hospital as well, curing the elephants from any injury their past owners gave them. Each day the workers and volunteers (yes you can volunteer and spend a week or two there) have a list of tasks to do, like disinfecting injuries or administrating eye drops.
After a delicious lunch (worth the entrance fee alone) comes the fun part: everybody down to the river to bath the elephants. Inevitably, due to the kids around, the heat and the fun atmosphere, there will be some kind of water fight.
During the day you'll also meet Lek, the founder of the Park. Make sure to get a chance to chat to her. Lek is an extraordinary woman indeed (2005 Time Magazine 'Asian Hero of the year'). She's tiny, but radiates her passion and strong will like an aura around her. Lek also started a project related to the Nature Park. It's called Jumbo Express and consist of rescuing and giving medical care for elephants in remote areas. Part of your admittance fee (which is a bit more expensive than other tourist elephant activities, but indeed worth every penny) goes to the project.
When the time comes to go back to your accommodation (and that is after a second bathing session and watching a documentary about the cruelties elephants still endure in Thailand) you'll be sorry to leave such a oasis where people and nature co-exist so well. And maybe you'll even consider going back to spend a few days there (accommodation available) or even to volunteer there. I did consider it as well, but then forgot that I could only stay 30 days in Thailand with my visa. It was time to go back to Bangkok, and after a few days there fly to Singapore.
Read more about my Adventures in Chiang Mai or Bangkok...
