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Home » Reader question » Reader question: Why is there such a difference at elephant camps in Thailand?
Dear readers,
We have been in Koh Chang for a week now and I am very surprised that there are still several elephant camps here, where the elephants are still ridden by tourists and that they are attached to a very short chain.
Before this we were in Chiang Mai, where is the exact opposite? How is that possible?
Greetings,
Language
The tourist industry, with the always badly mistreated and abused elephants, exists for the sake of money-money-money.
And disappearing will take a long time, because so many tourists have no negative feeling about it at all (often also ignorant). Fortunately, but only in dribs and drabs, it is getting through to Western tourists in particular.
Have you really looked around Chiang Mai? Not everyone is convinced
of the fact that riding an elephant would be harmful to the animal…
Rob, please…..don't sow any doubt. I have looked at many sanctuaries throughout Thailand and therefore also the tourist industry camps: riding an elephant with a chair is criminal against the elephant (their back is not nearly strong enough). What you might mean: sitting on the neck of an elephant and riding along (1 or two people) is excellent. Elephants can take that well.
I think the question about the chair is justified, because a lot of false information is given in the world, to force one's own opinion on others, or to collect money.
This harmfulness should then be supported by a thorough investigation.
Mind you, I certainly don't deny that it could be harmful.
Not that I'm in favor of using elephants as a taxi, just go for a nice walk with them, and give them a piece of fruit every now and then during the walk.
There are also camps in Chiang Mai where elephants are chained and ridden.
As the owner of Dutch guesthouse, I always give advice to go to certain camps where I know they will be treated well.
But there are also many people who don't accept this and complain later, but that's not my problem because I warned them.
Many elephant parks are in the immediate vicinity of houses and farmland and therefore cannot roam freely.
It is normal here that each district or town has its own rules.
Hans
There is currently a film floating around on the internet (I think on Thailand Community) shot in Thailand 1923.
"Chang, a drama off the wilderness".
The movie is of good quality.
See how elephants were treated a century ago, out of necessity.
The sensitivity of Westerners to elephants in Thailand is exaggerated.
What about horses, equestrian sports, … in the western world? Have you ever watched the matches in England? What about cross-country, ever seen how many heavy falls with those carriages?
But no, the elephants sir.
Poor people are not allowed to earn a living from that.
Hypocritical.
Thanks for the replies, I was just wondering what it was. By the way, here on Koh Chang I mainly see Asian tourists sitting on the elephants.
it's not an exaggeration. The way an elephant is used is in our eyes extremely cruel. And yes, for now many have to get their money from somewhere. It will therefore also take a long time before the elephants can be respected as we like to respect animals. I don't blame them, but waking up isn't a bad thing. It took generations before we in the Netherlands no longer allowed wild animals in circuses, that is comparable. We could eventually afford not to do that anymore.
Yes, dear Inquisitor, to make an analogy: as soon as the dog moves to the left or right, you poke him in the soft tissues with a stick. How do you think that feels? And now to the elephant: have you ever seen how they train and restrain the elephant? An elephant is kept under control with a fencing type of pickaxe, a hook. Have you ever seen a mahout without such a sharp hook because the mahout has a “good bond” with his pet? So no. Draw your own conclusion and sympathize. There is a law in Thailand that you cannot abuse or hit a dog or pet, why doesn't this apply to a more intelligent animal which is the elephant.
What's wrong with riding an elephant? Animals are made to serve and feed humans. The people who want to see animals treated like a human being are, in my opinion, not very smart. He should not be mistreated, but what elephant has come to complain that someone is sitting on his back?
Animals were created to serve and feed man?
Where did you get that crazy idea?
Man is also an animal, which a few million years ago underwent a harmful mutation - the effects of which we can see in the environment all over the world - that made his brain bigger than his mind.
It is already well known that you should not sit on the backs of elephants. See here a report from the NOS of July 2017.
https://nos.nl/op3/artikel/2181833-olifantenleven-in-azie-vuurtje-onder-de-buik-en-spijkers-in-het-lichaam.html
Just click through and you will also come across a fragment of how an elephant is tamed to do what a human wants and not what the elephant itself would do in its own habitat. It was removed from there.
To see it even better, click here: https://www.zuidoostaziemagazine.com/ritje-op-een-olifant-geen-goed-idee/
Last year I spoke to a Thai who shelters elephants. That is quite expensive, by the way, because they have to buy them free, as it were. According to him, the tourist rides on the back are not harmful. It's animal cruelty, but for a different reason. An elephant eats all day long. They have to do that to get enough food. Elephants who have to make tourist trips for a large part of the day are starving as a result. After all, they can't eat when they're at work. They weaken and are susceptible to illness and injury. So don't take elephant rides, it is and remains animal abuse.
The elephant is the mahout's (usually only) source of income. If he does not take good care of his animal, its health deteriorates, and he loses his source of income ... if that economic reason is not enough, if the elephant is not a source of income, it is left to its own devices, and it is either hit and cripples, or the elephant starves. Or goes the ignorant mom “well-meaning