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This is the only work these great creatures
now have and domesticated elephants in Thailand
do need to work for a living
Take an elephant ride in Phuket and help an
elephant earn his living, for in Thailand elephants
do have to work to eat well. There are many
choices in elephant rides on Phuket, and anyone
who rents their own car and drives along the
beautiful west coast will soon come across many
roadside elephant camps offering forest rides.
Sad to say, most Thai elephants are now out
of work, and their quality of life is low. Many
elephants roam the streets of Bangkok or provincial
towns, their mahouts selling lucky charms and
rides while begging for food.
There are now an estimated 2,000 plus domesticated
elephants left in Thailand – down from
20,000 a century ago, while perhaps only hundreds
remain in the wild, the sad, fractured remainder
of a national herd of an estimated 100,000 a
century ago.
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Elephants
were formerly employed in the forest logging industry,
being used to haul heavy logs out of the forest
to roads where trucks could load them. Then, in
1989, Thailand banned virtually all logging of
its fast dwindling forests, throwing most elephants
and their mahouts out of work. Hundreds descended
upon the cities and tourist destinations seeking
work and food. The elephant influx into Phuket
over the past ten years has brought up to 300
of the great beast to the island, many now in
those roadside camps waiting for passing tourists
to stop.
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Do
take a ride. Clinging to your howdah as the elephant
negotiates steep slopes, with amazing agility
and sure-footedness, is an unforgettable experience.
But do choose carefully, for you can make a real
difference in elephants’ lives. Not all
elephant keepers treat their beasts well. The
Phuket-based Elephant Help volunteer group was
set up to help monitor the health of elephants
on the island, and offer treatment when their
owners could not. They have found many mistreated
animals here. The visitor can make some simple
judgements, and support only those operators who
seem to be taking good care of their elephants.
If the animals are chained in the sun with little
shade, do not give your support. If the animals
appear thin and bony, find another camp where
they appear better kept. Some of the most interesting
places to take an elephant ride include the
camp at Kalim, just north of Patong’s
main beach, and on top of the mountain south
of Kata, where there are two camps. The first
is just before, the second at the bottom of
the hill after the high lookout point beyond
Kata. These two take visitors into more interesting,
off-the-beaten-track routes.
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