Elephant hugs and more… an insight into Thailand’s elephant tourism

The recent Daily Mail British newspaper headline stabs at my heart:

‘Rescuers battle to save starving elephant found ‘days from death’, covered in sores and with bones protruding after it was neglected at Thai tourist park closed by Covid.’ The photographs are even more distressing, I have refrained from including here.

To readers in the UK and across the globe, it is easy to judge as I have learnt over my five years in Thailand. I try to understand first and help second. I hope here to provide an insight into Thailand’s world of elephant care tourism and give you some options should you wish to offer some financial support for Thailand’s elephants.

UNDERSTANDING THE COMPLEXITY OF ELEPHANT TOURISM

I was brought up to love all creatures great and small. I thought I had the elephant situation assessed; elephants should be in the wild, or in an ethical sanctuary for retired elephants. They should not perform tricks or paint, and we should not ride them for our pleasure. Covid has added additional difficulties, without 40 million predicted tourists, businesses have closed, people have lost jobs, and yes elephants are starving.

TAT”S ELEPHANT CARE EXPERIENTIAL TRIP

My firm beliefs were challenged when in November 2020 I was invited by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) to join a trip to learn about Elephant Care. You can read the views of my fellow participants in Meet Thailand’s Elephant Influencers.

But now for my own opinions and believe you me, this has taken some thought processing and even so, I remain uncertain even when I try to stick to the viewpoint that the elephant welfare comes first… but what about the humans, their safety and their livelihoods?

To say it is complex sounds like a copout, but it is true. Most likely, your viewpoint on domesticated elephant care depends on your cultural upbringing and heritage.

MY INTEREST IN ELEPHANT CARE

Let’s go a bit back in time. For my birthday in 2017, I attended elephant yoga at the King’s Cup Elephant Polo tournament in Bangkok that raised money for elephant welfare. We previously stayed at the Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp for our honeymoon? (my husband was a zoologist) and the work of the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Sanctuary impressed. 

King’s Cup Elephant polo fundraiser 2017

Whilst we were enjoying our dawn yoga class overlooking the Chao Phraya River and watched on by the elephants waiting for their “brekkie,” we were thinking we were doing the right thing supporting the elephant fundraiser. However, the PETA animal rights campaigners were filming and we ended up in the middle of an animal rights protest… From that moment on I knew that elephant welfare is complicated. The more I seem to understand Thailand, the less sure I have become of the validity of my own position on elephant welfare.

The TAT trip to Lampang and Chiang Mai introduced us to vets and elephant welfare experts, to learn about their latest research into elephant care.

Thailand Elephant Conservation Centre learning from the experts.

Thailand’s Elephants

• There are approximately 7000 elephants in Thailand, of these 3129 are captive of which 95% are privately owned; 2673 elephants work in tourism with 223 of them in camps. (2019 data supplied)

• Government legislation exists to protect elephants in Thailand. Every domestic elephant must be registered.

Elephant Tourism

We visited four operators working in elephant tourism to see how Thailand is moving forward towards more sustainable solutions for elephant-based tourism.

Even the words ‘elephant tourism’ don’t sit well with me. In my mind, these majestic animals should not have the word tourism tagged on to their existence.

Please don’t think I am writing this as a Thailand elephant expert, quite the contrary. I want to share my perceived elephant dilemmas. It seems that the more I learn, the more there is to understand, the less certain I am.

The bottom line is that Thailand’s ‘domesticated’ elephants are suffering from the global pandemic’s economic impact, just as people are suffering. They need food; they need medical care just the same as their mahouts. The easiest fundraising comes via some form of human interaction with elephants whether it is watching the animals roam at a sanctuary, bathing, feeding, hugging or even riding the elephants.

You could of course take the hard line that now is the time to break this cycle of the domestication of elephants. Release them back into the wild and stop breeding from captive elephants. However, as we found out, things are more complicated than that.

TAT’S Elephant Care strategy

We were presented with three ‘C’s that are at the heart of TAT’s strategy for elephant care crisis: Communication, Collaboration and Compromise. Hmmm, I’m already uncomfortable with the last one where elephant welfare is concerned but let’s continue!

Communication

The need for awareness of the current elephant welfare situation. I’m impressed with the diverse group of Influencers, bloggers and media that TAT invited for this learning experience. I saw this as a two-way process.

TAT and their elephant experts’ panel shared the knowledge and research of the condition of Thailand’s captive elephants. We were given the opportunity to ask questions and share our ideas.

The final part was to share what we had gained in learning and understanding of Thailand’s elephant care, via our various social media platforms. It felt like a weighty responsibility. To do the elephants justice and to share the knowledge learnt with others, especially as I ended up less sure of my own convictions.

Collaboration

TAT sees its role as collaborative, and as facilitator amongst many interested groups. It is also a conduit to gather feedback from Thailand’s tourists.

Compromise

We heard a pragmatic approach, which suggested the need for compromise and balancing what TAT called Thailand’s ‘old belief cultures’ with the ‘modern ways’.

Elephants In Thai Culture 

Understanding Thailand’s attitude towards domesticated elephant care must start with the respect and knowledge of Thai history and the important role elephants have had in Thai culture. From royalty to logging and even having played their part in wars, elephants are revered animals.

The deep relationship between elephant and mahout is a special one, which develops over many decades, and lasts throughout the life of the elephant,  sometimes up to 70 years. Some mahouts have had elephants in their families for many generations. It is an esteemed animal that provides families with an income originally from logging, more recently from tourism.

Herein lies the problem. As I look at the issue of elephants through my Western lenses with my own cultural views of what is right or wrong, I’m left wondering whether this is just one of those moments when I say “I’m a guest in a foreign land, who am I to judge?” Furthermore, should I take the view for my moral sanity that I need to know more? That my tourist baht will only go to ‘ethical’ sanctuaries who put elephant welfare at the heart of their business.

Definition Of Ethical Elephant Sanctuaries:

A bit like the term free-range egg, the definition of an Ethical Elephant Sanctuary is open to interpretation.

Ben Barling from Trunk suggests:’Truly ethical elephant sanctuaries limits human-elephant interactions to a minimum to maintain the elephant’s calm lifestyle. In fact, most that are confirmed to be ethical elephant sanctuaries don’t allow the tourists to interact with the elephants at all’

Well, bring in the vets with their elephant studies, and the story gets a whole lot more complicated. 

The Research:

Over the three days of our visit, we listened to various researchers including those from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Chiang Mai University. Their research focused on stress hormones in elephants, and a general assessment by the vets of the animals’ overall health and wellbeing, including dung analyses and interviews with mahouts.

The study responds to the differing areas of elephant tourism: elephant shows, riding elephants, interacting by bathing and feeding elephants, purely observational programs.

Let me share with you some of my ideas and my confusions:

Should elephants be returned to the wild?

Historical hindsight is sad, seeing elephants captured and bred in captivity for work in the Thai logging Industry. However, too much time has passed and it is not that simple to return them to the wild. Where could they possibly live in Thailand without risk to humans and the destruction of their crops and homes? In Thailand, the natural elephant habitat has seriously shrunk and there is simply not enough remaining forest for them to live in.

Most of the current captive elephants are third and fourth generation domestic animals. Can they live without human support? At Patara Farm, its elephant reintroduction program into nature returns a mother with her calf into the wild. The baby elephants, bred to return to the wild, have less human interaction, and therefore a greater chance of successful reintegration.

My original belief that all elephants should roam wild is challenged when I am asked if I would set my dog free because it is unfair and unnatural to keep him domesticated. Dogs roamed wild once and perhaps they should roam free… My heart misses a beat thinking about my loveable crazy poodle trying to find food, risking an accident, injury and lots more. To me, that is not right, but rather unfair to my dog that is not equipped to survive in nature… Am I now experiencing the same feelings mahouts feel about their elephants?

But what if my wonderful pooch didn’t eat a few kibbles a day and the odd sausage from the ‘barbie’? What if he needed to eat 300 kg a day and I couldn’t afford to feed him?

Should you ride elephants?

Elephants, as working animals in Thailand, have been ridden for decades. The veterinarian studies showed us that riding an elephant is not harmful providing the weight carried is less than 20% of its body weight and any seat is well fitted.

This gets me thinking. Is there any difference between this and the more widely accepted idea that horse riding is ok?

Vets say that elephants typically walk 5-10 km a day in the wild, but domesticated elephants often do not have enough exercise, resulting in health issues from overweight, joint, foot and nail issues, birthing problems, all of growing concern. Elephants at rescue sanctuaries offering a riding experience have more exercise, which is healthier for the elephant.

We note that at the elephant sanctuaries we had visited it is possible to ride elephants, although interestingly this was not on our agenda. Was this because had it been offered perhaps none of us would have come?!

Having been staunchly opposed to elephant riding for so many years I am currently rethinking this. The thought that my bareback elephant ride through the forest was providing a healthy walk, exercise and money to feed the animal becomes enlightening? What do you think?

I know what I think! Yes, it is fine to help the current elephants but not to propagate the continuation of domesticated elephants…somehow I feel this is unlikely. Because at the end of the day the elephant is a commodity, a status symbol and in pre-Covid days a means to an income.

For further information read fellow Travel Writer Barbara Weibel’s excellent article Elephant Tourism to ride or not?

Should you feed elephants?

Elephants need 300 kg of food daily. The tourist pays for the elephant’s food. However, elephants need to have a well-balanced diet and they cannot live on sugar cane and bananas alone that tourist usually feeds the elephants. At Kanta Elephant Sanctuary, a feeding activity involves preparing balls that contain healthy food ingredients as well as medicine and daily nutrients.

Vets at the Thai Elephant Conservation Hospital in Lampang reported that prior to Covid-19 there were increasing issues from overweight elephants, creating a variety of issues. At the hospital, we were introduced to a female elephant recovering from an episiotomy performed while birthing her calf, a common problem in overweight elephants.

Preparing healthy Elephant food at Kanta Elephant Sanctuary

Should elephants be trained?

Isn’t this at the crux of it all? Elephants should not be trained for entertaining humans, such as painting or performing circus acts. However, it is very clear that if elephants stay with humans, they need to follow the rules. This involves training.

There are some horrible videos as evidence of elephants being tortured and cruelly treated to obey whilst being trained through a process called Phajaan. This literally means crushing which is a taming method subjecting elephants to physical and psychological torture.

At Patara Elephant Farm, the vets showed us the techniques their mahouts use to train the elephants, handling them safely while using positive reinforcement training programs.

Vet works with the mahout at Patara Elephant farm to be able to examine the elephant’s feet.

Should you beat elephants with a bullhook?

This one feels like a no brainer, no, of course, you shouldn’t!  However, we were told an elephant hook is an essential tool, used properly it can effectively control the movement of elephants, who we know have thick and tough skin.

Hmmm, it still looks like a torture weapon.

I’m thinking a taser or something from the ‘more modern ways’ would be less offensive, but then here I go again putting my ideas above tradition and what works. 

Should elephants be chained?

Not every elephant can be free, some are aggressive, especially adult male bulls, and a danger to local populations and destructive of local habitats. As with the bullhooks, chains and enclosed spaces are not seem to be stress factors to elephants according to the vets… the obvious other factor is how long the elephants are chained. Another consideration is the safety factor for both elephants and people. Which goes back to elephants following the rules when with humans…

Elephant chained at the elephant hospital

My final thoughts

I reflect on some of the traditional ways of elephant handling that look so vile to those of us, the uninformed, who want to see animals run free, may not actually be harmful to elephant welfare. I learned that sometimes when we think we are doing the right thing by not riding elephants, but buying them sugar cane to eat, and other acts that we may inadvertently harm the animals.

I realise that I have looked at elephant welfare totally from my western lens.

I respect TAT’s initiatives of communication, collaboration, and compromise in the complex environment and wish everyone well for the sake of the domesticated elephants in Thailand.

I admire all those wonderful working people who have given their lives to elephant welfare in Thailand, we were introduced to some of them.

I applaud that tourism has played a very important part in Thai Elephant conservation.

I understand that for many of us an elephant encounter whilst on holiday in Thailand remains a highlight of our holiday in the Kingdom, and I recognise we need direction to ensure the support of the best ethical wildlife sanctuaries. 

I urge you to consider supporting elephant welfare in Thailand. For further information please see the links below all welcome donations to support their work with elephant welfare in Thailand.

Thai Elephant Conservation Centre, Lampang:  A government-run centre and elephant hospital. They offer an elephant foster program here 

Kanta Elephant Sanctuary Chiang Mai: Seeing, feeling, and touching the elephants in the wild open space. Donating to sponsor an elephant here

Patara Elephant Farm: Rescue, Recovery, Reproduction, Reintroduction for elephants with education and meaningful tourism sharing. Your support is urgently needed, donate here.

Poopooelephant: An eco-friendly, fun, outdoor museum park that introduces and explains the unique steps involved in making elephant poo into paper. If you are interested in buying Elephant Poo products, visit Shopee here.

Recommendations from readers:

Elephant Jungle Sanctuary

Recommended by Inge at Destinationexplorer.world.  “We did a lot of research to find an ethical and ecological sanctuary where the elephants are well-treated. This elephant sanctuary convinced us because of the good work they have done to create a positive change in the perception of elephants. (no poaching, riding, overworking, or abusing) We did the morning tour and had a lot of fun feeding, bathing, and washing the elephants there. Pick-up from your hotel in Chiang Mai is included in the price and you get a well-cooked Thai lunch”.

Elephant Carer Home is a typical 3-generation enterprise that love their elephants and treats and trains them with positive reinforcement. Recommended by Laura in the comments below. Fundraising donation page here

Should you want to include any other suggestions for elephant sanctuaries in need of financial support please add them to the comments below.

I feel confident in saying that whilst Thailand does not always have a good public image regarding elephant care, there is a tremendous amount of good work done behind the scenes. The elephant sanctuaries mentioned above have been chosen by TAT for their valuable efforts in this field.

Whilst I went with an open mind about elephant tourism, I also realised I went with my own preconceived ideas on the subject of Elephant Care tourism, some of them ethical, some of them cultural.

There is an urgent need for tourist education and regulation of wildlife tourist attractions worldwide. I was happy to learn more about Thailand’s approach.

It was a fabulous three-day of learning experience which challenged my opinions. I still have a view that elephants should be in the wild, but as this is not practical, my elephant tourism Baht will go into projects that had this as their number one objective… I only support the breeding of domesticated elephants where the primary purpose is to reintroduce them into the wild. Would I ride an elephant? Still no, but would I happily go for a wander beside an elephant with a mahout riding bareback, hell yes!

Phew! Thank you for reading with me until the end.

Elephant hugs to you!

Further Reading:

TAT showcases the Elephant Care Experiential Learning trip

How to choose an ethical elephant sanctuary in Thailand SanctuariesNomad’s World

What makes an Ethical Elephant Sanctuary?

13 Ethical Elephant experiences in Thailand

Elephant World Kanchanaburi

Helping Thailand’s elephants during the Covid-19 pandemic

Thailand Elephant Alliance

Elephant Reintroduction Foundation

Friends of the Asian Elephant Foundation

Fodors: Thailand’s Elephant tourism is more complex than you’d imagine