PHUKET: Win some, lose some. With two young baby elephants confiscated last night by officials concerned about their family trees, Phuket welcomed a newborn today whose mother was plain for all to see.

Saifon (raining) emerged at 1.49am at the Kinaree camp in Rawai, southern Phuket, weighing in at 75 kilos and appearing to be healthy.

Mother Keawata, aged 10, had been in labor since 9pm the previous evening after a hefty 21-month pregnancy.

Rain was falling on Phuket last night, which accounts for the baby's name.

The birth of the young female brought the tally of elephants at the camp to 20. It was the second birth at Kinaree in the space of three years, with Pimai born on January 4 2009.

Phuket has more than 180 elephants, mostly engaged in tourist activities, but few of them are Phuket born and bred.

Father Tongpoon had tried to be a dad with two other elephants but it was the charms of Keawata that did the trick.

The birth came with remarkable timing. Just the previous evening, officials had taken possession of two your elephants, Popeye and Joey, amid concerns that they may have been smuggled to Phuket after their mothers were killed in national parks.