Four years ago, on my first trip to Thailand, I was naïvely excited about getting up close with an elephant. I visited a camp, rode an elephant and was entertained by the shows and paintings. Saying I didn’t know any better would be a cop out.
I was so captivated by the creatures that I wasn’t looking at the whole picture. I saw the elephant’s speckled ears flapping with the breeze and its rough trunk reaching out to me. My tunnel vision prevented me from seeing bullhooks, chains, and the tradition of brutal training the elephants would have undergone to be able to perform in these shows.
It’s easy to ignore the negative, especially when you’re on vacation. But if you search on YouTube and elsewhere on the Internet, the truth is out there. Most elephants in Thailand, including the majority that tourists are able to ride and see in various shows, endure some form of abuse.
But you don’t have to take my word for it. The camp next to Elephant Nature Park chains up their creatures and some of the other volunteers even saw one of them being beaten as kids hopped on top of it. It’s something that happens every day in this beautiful country with a seedy underbelly desperate for tourist money.
But I am as much to blame as anyone else. Which is why I decided to spend a week volunteering at Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai, where the creatures can roam free with their own kind. I hope my week of shoveling poop, shucking corn, cutting bamboo, acquiring blisters, sweating through my clothing, and being feasted on by mosquitoes makes up for my lapse in judgment as a 21-year-old who hadn’t yet seen the world.
The park is led by an unlikely matriarch, Sangduen “Lek” Chailert. Her nickname may mean small, but she is fearless, standing up to the Thai government, tourism offices, and her fellow elephant parks. She taught me that one voice, no matter how small, can make an impact. And that I’ve been given a platform through this blog and can make a difference myself.
Lek is like the Lorax, speaking for animals, especially the elephants. The creatures who live at ENP are all victims, whether of Bangkok’s 2011 floods or the logging and tourism industries. Some are blind, while others are crippled or orphans. Some are all of the above.
She’s created a community and a family for all living things. In addition to the elephants, cows, chickens, buffalo, cats and dogs, the 200 staff members, which include mahouts, volunteer coordinators, office support and tour guides, plus their families live here rent free.
My week at the Elephant Nature Park made me question all sorts of animal encounters I’d seen or experienced firsthand: fish spas, jumping crocodile cruises, circuses, elephant paintings, monkey restaurants, tiger temples, SeaWorld. I realized that if there is a major modification of behavior happening to the animals, there’s some sort of abuse happening. So do your research and say no to shows where animals are the entertainment.
If you’re planning a trip to Thailand, or really anywhere in the world, don’t make the same mistake I did. Do your research. Make sure your money is going towards the betterment of our world, not to abuse and corruption. If you’d like to find out more about the park, including visiting, volunteering and donating, visit their website.
THANK YOU Could not agree more.