A Day at the Elephant Park

You can’t go to Thailand and not ride on an elephant, right? Unfortunately, after doing some research, I learned that this couldn’t be further from the truth. Elephants are revered as a sacred and religious animal in Thailand representing luck, strength, and wisdom. Yet, the treatment of elephants is still a hugely prevalent nationwide problem. I stumbled upon this issue when I was researching where Mike and I should go for our “authentic elephant ride” as there are hundreds of elephant camps throughout Thailand. While I am certain that there are many reputable camps that treat their elephants well, I was appalled by the overall treatment of these “beloved” animals throughout Thailand.

Years ago, there were over one hundred thousand Asian elephants thriving in Thailand as both wild animals and as employees in the logging industry. When the use of elephants in the logging industry was made illegal, thousands of elephants were left unemployed and rendered “useless.” Unfortunately, this led to the exploitation and abuse of these amazing creatures. Elephants were used to get money from tourists while being subjected to pollution and long working hours on the streets of Bangkok and Chiang Mai. They were forced to carry hundreds of extra pounds on their backs during the daily elephant rides leading to countless broken backs and legs. They were tortured, cruelly punished, and torn away from their families in order to become submissive and be “trained” to act like circus animals. And their population decreased by 95%. Learning about this made me incredibly sad and confused. It also made my decision about which elephant camp to go to very difficult. As far as I could tell, there was no way of differentiating the abusive camps from the camps that preserved the animal’s dignity. Then, our volunteer organization recommended an amazing place called the Elephant Nature Park (http://www.elephantnaturepark.org/index.htm), a sanctuary and rescue center for elephants. While tourists cannot ride the elephants, they can spend a day feeding, bathing, and getting to know them. Mike and I decided to visit and we came away from the day with a renewed sense of hope for the treatment of elephants in Thailand and a deepened affection for these gentle giants.

 Our day began when a representative from the nature camp picked us up in Chiang Mai. We watched a video about the history of elephants on the ride that was interesting and informative. Upon arriving to the camp and catching my first glimpse of a new born baby elephant, I knew I was in for an amazing day! We started by feeding the elephants breakfast…baskets and baskets of fruits and vegetables. Some of the elephants were so calm that I could feed them directly in their mouths! Others, I would wedge fruit into the base of their trunk as if passing a baton in a relay race. After breakfast, we toured the 800 hectare park and met many of its tenants: Hope (the adorable orphaned elephant who finally found happiness at the park), Chang Yim (a baby that was actually born in the park), and Mae Perm (the 89 year old “grandmother” of the park) were some of my favorites. I was delighted to learn that each elephant not only has their own story, but also their own unique personality. They make lifelong friendships and are incredibly loyal.

 A highlight of the day was bathing the elephants in the river. After enjoying our own gourmet Thai lunch at the park, we were armed with buckets and allowed to get up close and personal in the river. We spent the balance of our visit feeding the elephants again, watching a documentary about the park, and simply enjoying nature. Mike and I even had the chance to meet Lek, the park’s founder. She truly is an inspiration and is leading the charge in drawing awareness to the mistreatment of elephants. I hope that more people like Lek will begin to speak out against the historic mistreatment of Asian elephants. And I hope that visiting the nature park will begin to be on every tourist’s Thailand bucket list. It was an experience of a lifetime.