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Ride an Elephant When You Visit Phuket
By John Everingham Sunday, May 10, 2015
PHUKET: If you wish to help an elephant in Phuket, jump onto its back. Ride it. Buy it some bananas or sugar cane.
If this seems a little demeaning to the elephant, remember its meagre alternatives; begging or going hungry.
In Phuket elephants are sometimes seen in the streets, performing tricks to entertain people, begging and even going to sleep hungry.
The elephants that carry tourists on short treks through the forest - and get sufficient to eat each day - are the lucky ones. These are not just animals in humiliation, they are beasts in real danger.
Some experts predict the Asian elephant could become extinct in the wild within our life spans. Captive breeding of domesticated Asian elephants is slow and, as yet, does not replenish their numbers, putting the survival of the entire species at serious risk.
The forests that once supported some millions of Asian elephants are nearly all gone, and people are still killing the very few left in the wild.
Thailand's forests are so depleted that even a few hundred wild elephants have trouble finding enough to eat in the dry seasons, and often emerge at night to raid the pineapple and sugarcane crops being grown on their old grazing lands.
Human-elephant conflict results in elephants being poisoned and shot in Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam and Burma each year.
While wild elephants face a bleak future, things are not much better for domesticated elephants in Thailand. For centuries a large population of trained elephants had permanent employment hauling timber out of the forests.
Despite that they labored for man, these elephants lived in a natural environment with free food all around, and lived a reasonable, if captive life.
Thailand, however, banned logging in its few remnant natural forests in a belated effort to save what's left. A few thousand domesticated elephants were thrown into unemployment, and serious hardship by that new law.
Many now wander city streets across Thailand with their mahouts (handlers), selling trinkets and lucky charms, while their beasts perform and beg for a living.
Others have become entertainers, carrying tourists on treks or performing tricks on the beach - neither a dignified nor certain existence for these regal friends of man.
Despite that people everywhere love elephants, that human love does not translate into enough practical help to give elephants a bright future.
Phuket has a significant population of domesticated elephants - every one of them imported onto the island to work in the tourism industry.
Elephant camps are found in most of the major tourist zones. The single biggest concentration, with about four or five camps, is on the high mountain between Kata and Nai Harn in the far south of the island.
All camps offer elephant rides through the rubber plantations (and perhaps a little natural forest), often with beautiful views to sea.
Do go ride an elephant while on Phuket, for as stated, this is a good way to help ensure they get enough to eat each day. The rides do not cover long distances, and the elephants are always given time to rest, or even forage for food along the way.
Carrying a tourist family is not a particularly arduous task for a healthy elephant.
Typically, an elephant ride lasts a half-hour to an hour, and can cost anywhere between 500 and 1000 baht per person.
A mahout generally rides atop the animal's head, with 2 or 3 passengers in the basket behind.
Sometimes, when the elephant is female and docile, the mahout will walk off in front, allowing a passenger to assume the more exciting position on the elephant's head, and try their hand at controlling the beast.
Male elephants are also used for trekking, but not during the periods when they are going through ''musth,'' the occasional times when both their mating hormones and levels of aggression run high.
Happily, this is clearly evidenced by a gland on the side of their faces which oozes fluid. At such times bull elephants will be kept well away from tourists.
Those who want to help elephants can go further than just taking a ride or buying bananas. You can hire an elephant for all kinds of reasons, be it for a guest appearance at a party, a photo shoot or for a beach wedding.
Elephants are often called in for functions related to corporate incentive conventions. Such high-impact elephant rentals can easily be arranged though an elephant camp.
While some critics claim this is a demeaning and inappropriate exploitation of magnificent animals, the day-to-day practicalities suggest the alternatives are worse.
Every bit of precious income helps owners care for their jumbos better, providing healthy meals and paying for the medical attention that is needed quite often.
With elephants suffering dramatic declines all across Asia, and experts warning of their likely extinction within a generation or two, the domesticated elephants of Phuket offer a rare opportunity for parents to give their children hands-on experience with these wonderful, gentle giants.
Here is a safe and fun environment in which we can instil in children an appreciation of some of nature's most remarkable creations.
And perhaps some children will cherish their memories from Phuket and go on to become elephant benefactors of the future.
The elephants are certainly going to need kind human hearts among the coming generations, if they are to survive as a species.
Where personal experience is most powerful of teachers, it makes sense to book some of your family holiday time in Phuket with the island's elephants.
Families who rent their own transport will find it easiest to mix it up with elephants. As said earlier, there are four or five elephant camps along the steep mountain road between Kata and Nai Harn beaches.
The trip over this mountain is a pleasant tour in itself, with other attractions along the way. There are a couple of snakes shows, many ATVs for rent, and even a rubber tapping display.
At the bottom of the mountain on the Nai Harn side a Muay thai training camp can be seen by the roadside. Here youthful foreign visitors can be seen practicing their martial arts skills in the mornings and evenings.
But elephants are definitely the main attraction. The camps typically have up to 10 beasts each, mostly the calmer and easier to handle females.
Some babies can be expected. Aside from riding an elephant, children can get up close and personal with the jumbos, feeding them their favourite bananas and sugar cane.
Familiarity with animals breaks down fears and prejudices, and promotes human goodwill towards our fellow travellers on this beleaguered planet.
Take your kids to an elephant camp. They will love it, and benefit from it. So will the elephants.
The views expressed are the views of the author, not Phuketwan. Activists trying to ''save'' a juvenile elephant on Phuket named Nadia, alias Choojai, would be advised to take on board this article as research.
thebeachfrontclub.com
http://thebeachfrontclub.com/guide/elephants-on-phuket-thailand-ride-an-elephant-feed-an-elephant
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Comments
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Good words from John
It's sad but true this is the best for them at present
I believe they can be reintroduced into the wild research suggests from studies of the pygmy elephants in Borneo that these may have been domesticated once, but they are not bothered by humans unlike the elephants in the wild I have encountered in Thailand and would easily fall prey to hunters and it's believed the pygmy elephants returned to the wild two to three hundred years ago
Posted by
Michael
on
May 10, 2015 09:13
I have been told by professionals ( vets) that a elephant back is not suitable to carry a large heavy basket with 3-4 foreign tourists. I understood that just behind elephants head is ok for the caretaker to sit. Hope people who know more about this will comment.
Posted by
Kurt
on
May 10, 2015 09:23
Editor Comment:
Carrying tourists is not what an elephant's back was created to do. But then, humans weren't intended to carry heavy loads either. Nor, for that matter, were horses created with saddles in mind. It really is one of those silly arguments, only for zealots.
The argument isn't should elephants carry tourists or not... the argument is that currently this is the best option. Unless someone is willing to hand over hundreds of acres of land titles and cash to support the operation of a sanctuary indefinitely, then the elephant sanctuary/ reserve idea is not practical.
Unless the do-gooders out there put forward a practical plan, their best intentions will achieve nothing except a few isolated victories. There's plenty of open ears out there, mine included, that want to hear an sensible alternative, but nothing I've read about appears realistic.
Posted by
Duncan
on
May 10, 2015 11:00
How dare you endorse riding elephants! The only way they'll get food? Do you have any idea how painful it is for an elephant to even have one person on its back? They are NOT built to ride, and in order to accept passengers as well as perform, they are brutally beaten to break their spirit, bull hooks are used by their mahouts to threaten them into submission, and they often drop dead from exhaustion as 2 did the past week. They are worked too long and hard with no breaks, and given little water and food.
These elephants are stolen away from their mothers in the wild as babies, many of which die, and they are tortured their entire lives. I wish there was a place to put pictures here, and you could see how you're contributing to their suffering by encouraging people to ride them and give them food which is unhealthy and would never be eaten if they weren't desperate.
This petition is to stop elephant abuse in Thailand. The link with videos says it all. I hope it posts and you don't delete it. STOP PROMOTING ELEPHANT CRUELTY!
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/against-elephant-abuse-in-thailand/
Posted by
Anonymous
on
May 10, 2015 11:21
Editor Comment:
Sounds like unresearched, unproven waffle to me, anonymous.
"At such times bull elephants will be kept well away from tourists."
we know this to not be true.. try changing 'will' to 'should'..
Posted by
another steve
on
May 10, 2015 12:29
This is a very subjective article.The writer did not mention the cruel practice of taking babies out of the wild, often killing the mother to do so. Nowhere is there a mention of Pahjaan, or the "breaking of the spirit," where the babies are starved, beaten, and kept alive for days. The nails and bullhooks with sharp blades that the mahouts use to control the elephant are also not mentioned.
Finally, this article makes it sound like the elephants have nowhere to go, when in truth there are some very well respected elephant sanctuaries that take in these working elephants in Asia, including the Elephant Nature Park and BLES.
This is a horrible attempt to justify a cruel practice. If you are so worried about the elephants, send them to a sanctuary. There are plenty of people who are willingly donating to these places, including myself.
Elephant rides are cruel, as are all the other hideous things elephants are forced to do out of terror of more pain. This is not the best thing for elephants, and it is reprehensible that you would put this out there.
Posted by
Natalie Gray
on
May 10, 2015 12:47
Editor Comment:
Are there room in sanctuaries for all of Thailand's working elephants? Who compensates the owners? Your blue-sky view seems to skip a few practical difficulties, Natalie.
Isn't it a strange world where those who are most offended by the treatment of animals, without any real long term solution decide the best way they can help is to sit in a lounge chair and petition others to do their work for them. Are they really offended or is activism just so popular nowadays it has become trendy, whether you know what you are talking about or not?
Posted by
Manohout
on
May 10, 2015 13:38
Editor Comment:
Not so much activism as sofaism. Watch a little Walt Disney, mix it with National Geographic, and all the world's animals are free.
Yes Alan,
I would also like to report on a certain breed of 'animals' previously allowed free reign to wander without boundaries but recent attempts have been made to limit these wild creatures and domesticate them. Some have been caged illegally, others threatened with caging if they don't comply with certain jungle rules.
These 'animals' often have their hands tied behind their backs, are muzzled, wings are clipped, closely monitored and due to restrictions, have limited ability to live and do what is natural in their known environment.
Certain, more dominant animals prey upon this species ensuring their noses are kept away from the honeypots thereby avoiding the knowledge just how many pots exist and who owns each one.
These keepers use other animals to collect the honey, therefore avoiding sticky fingers or being caught with their hands in any pot.
Some bee keepers are known to have, what is considered, unexplained numbers of bee hives and if this issue is raised, your own hives may be confiscated or just disappear.
These keepers don't want others to know just how profitable the honeypot industry is while there is still demand. Others are currently trying to stop the honey business on the basis that these bees are being abused by talking them out of their natural environment and into captivity. Others suggest they do not and never have existed.
Please donate to: nomorestickyfingers.net.com.ing
Let's hope it ends up the same as the centipede leg harvesting schemes of the 80's where the future looked glim around day 99.
Posted by
Manowar
on
May 10, 2015 15:06
Typical of Phuket Wan. (moderated)
Posted by
Bill
on
May 10, 2015 16:31
Editor Comment:
We don't publish lies, Bill. Sorry.
In theory all the elephants should be and think they are chipped on phuket. So don't know where people are getting the baby's being stolen from there mother's thing.
Like you said earlier don't do much research on the sofas get up north and go see some of the sanctuaries there and learn more
Most of this started after the logging ban in 1989 after several bad landslides which killed a lot of people
There was a big surplus of elephants and don't think they need to take babies away from the wild
Apparently that still happens in Myanmar
Posted by
Michael
on
May 10, 2015 16:32
At last a informed report do gooders take note of the practical realities.
Posted by
slickmelb
on
May 10, 2015 17:39
The world is grey. Grey like an elefant. All the elefant sofaists should take note. I mean... Nah, they will not change aka grow up. It is more about themselves and their narrow mindset then it is about (fill in the creature of choice). Only no petition for the rohingha. Most likely because they kill mother elefants for a living.
Posted by
Lena
on
May 10, 2015 18:10
Editor Comment:
If only there were Rohingya out there who could respond to your outrageous accusation, Lena. It's not even vaguely funny.
Perhaps you should read this article on the subject, and reach your own conclusions,
http://expertvagabond.com/elephants-in-thailand/
Posted by
reader
on
May 10, 2015 19:39
Editor Comment:
My conclusion is that the expatvagabond provides no answer to the questions:
Will the sanctuary take all 216 elephants on Phuket and hundreds more throughout Thailand?
And who will pay the elephants' owners to remove their property from them?
Nobody disputes the cruel nature of breaking in an elephant - or a horse, for that matter. (odd how horses are left out of the issue.)
The point that John is making is that tourism cares reasonably well for hundreds of elephants who would starve without it.
Put emotion to one side and try using your brain, please.
What a poorly worded/written article. My Lord! What a shameful disgrace of journalism, if you can even call it that.
Posted by
Chris
on
May 10, 2015 19:56
Editor Comment:
What a pathetic, mindless comment. No point to make, Chris? You failed to make it well.
Some people should stop breeding....like people who promote this ridiculous, animal abuse. I would love to add links to articles that proof how back riding an elephant is so so wrong. I guess it has something to do with #MoneyCantBuyBrains. elephants or not: phuket sucks anyway. been there once, never again.
Posted by
Virginie
on
May 10, 2015 23:37
Editor Comment:
Well that illustrates, Virginie, the strength of the arguments you make on this important issue.
If people continue to support this Lind of tourism by participating, it only means more baby elephants are taken from the wild. Riding them is not saving them, you are causing more elephants to be enslaved.
The baby elephants are taken from their mothers, and then tortured for days or weeks until it us deemed that their spirit is "broken". They are tidied up, stopped from lying down and sleeping the tired time, beaten, cut with nails and hooks, until they are broken.
Then they are trained, using bull hooks and nails, to carry tourists for money.
As long as people contribute to it, more babies will be taken and abused. It's simple supply and demand. Stop the demand, but not riding, and they will stop taking babies from the wild to use in this industry.
Posted by
Anonymous
on
May 11, 2015 00:33
Editor Comment:
The vast majority of elephants in Thailand are born and raised in captivity. What's needed are logical answers, not emotive claptrap. Talk sense, please.
Well, should not be funny. I miss the outcry of this sofaists to the important stories, like the treatment of rohingha in Thailand. They just comment on the elefants with deep moral impetus and fell silent on the unbelievable stories about ransom torture of fellow humans in Thailand.
I really wonder how you can misread my post. Or do I misread your answer? Rohingha do not kill mother elefants. At least not to my knowledge.
Posted by
Lena
on
May 11, 2015 01:13
Editor Comment:
Nor to my knowledge. I certainly may have misread your post.
This is slavery. These elephants need to be freed to elephant sanctuaries. Riding elephants is extremely painful for them and gives them advanced arthritis and they die at a young age from exhaustion.
Posted by
Melanie
on
May 11, 2015 01:27
Editor Comment:
What to do next is the issue, Melanie. Please offer your practical solutions.
I've worked with retired tourist elephants in Thailand at the wildlife friends foundation. I've seen the scars and damage from the bull hooks they used on them, the elephants I worked with were so docile around all of us, which is so wrong. They are not 'gentle giants' they are wild powerful animals that shouldn't be used for our entertainment. There was a young bull no older than 7 who was retired because he was coming into must, he was taken from the wild, his family murdered just so he could paint pictures for a few years and now has to live at a sanctuary the rest of his life instead of his natural habbitat! I'm only 20 years old and I would like to see elephants in the wild for the rest of my life, but at this rate there will be none!
Posted by
Claudia-Rose
on
May 11, 2015 03:13
Editor Comment:
Hmmm . . . what is your solution, then, Claudia-Rose? Please give us your practical plan for saving all of Thailand's elephants. The emotional stuff is meaningless.
This is wrong on so many levels...should we start with the fact that these are endangered animals? or maybe that in order to endure riding, an elephant baby is subject to unthinkable horrors (many do not even survive)? or that in order for an elephant to continue to be ridden it must be subdued by a system of constant domination through violent physical abuse? or that sometimes eles who can no longer take the system of domination snap and kill riders and/or their handlers? or that elephants live in groups that function at such a complex level that given a choice, they are never seen alone? or that when relegated to the life of a trekking ele, money is the focus not the well-being of the animal? or that when they are no longer rideable they are often put into forced breeding programs whereby females are often crippled by being tied down so they can be mounted and raped often causing the female to suffer crushed femurs or pelvises or hips leaving them maimed for life? What other reasons does anyone who calls himself human need to justify not abusing an animal in the name of entitlement? Before you ever post such an uninformed article on elephants again, I suggest you visit Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai and learn not only what trekking does to elephants but more importantly, what life for an elephant can look like.
Posted by
Karen Ess
on
May 11, 2015 04:08
Editor Comment:
And is there room in the Chiang Mai park for all of Phuket's 216 elephants, Karen? How do you plan to remove them from their owners? There's no point is regurgitating half-truths. Once we are all shedding tears for the elephants, what's your plan for saving them all?
One can appreciate that all the elephants now on Phuket need to earn a living to survive. As was said in the report the forests and areas where elephants once resided on the mainland are slowly but surely disappearing, making it an impossibility to return elephants to the wild. What grates on me though is the thought process that we need to "ride" elephants for them to survive in the tourist industry. Taking into account an elephants spine is not made to carry a "howdah"/chair and three, four and sometimes five people atop. Do homework on the anatomy of an elephant and you will see that the spine does not grow flat but the spinal cord grows upwards and outwards. This in itself causes endless pain to the elephant and eventually causes them to become disabled through not only the spinal area, but the pressure that, walking ungainly, has forced on the legs and feet, thereby causing limping and lameness. Surely if elephants are to remain in the tourist industry, could not the camps allow tourists to walk alongside the elephant, mahout on one side guiding and tourists on other taking it in turns to feed the elephant whilst walking. The photo opportunities alone are immeasurable when standing alongside an elephant or watching it forage in the hills. Atop an elephant all you see is what the elephant sees, but walking with and being in contact with the elephant up close and personal is far more rewarding. And at the end of ones trip one would know that no harm was caused to the elephant, the elephant was fed adequately whilst walking and afterwards from the money acquired by mahout for such pleasure. Tourists would have the most wonderful experience and photos to match... Win/win methinks.
Posted by
Sue
on
May 11, 2015 04:12
They can live in sanctuaries without the help of tourism
Posted by
Anonymous
on
May 11, 2015 04:42
Editor Comment:
And the elephants' owners can beg in the street? Who buys the elephants from them?
I don't think it's wise, I think it's cruel. Elephants were not put on earth to be taxi's for humans. Tourism doesn't need to use this in advertising at all, you should be proud of your beautiful country as it is...awesome beaches. Let the elephants go to sanctuaries & stop using them. Please.
Posted by
alish aheahe
on
May 11, 2015 05:50
Editor Comment:
How will the owners of the elephants be encouraged to give them to sanctuaries, alish? Will you raise the money to buy them?
"...its meager alternatives are begging or going hungry." This may be the case now, but the answer is not just continuing with more of the same.
The solution starts with discontinuing practices which harm the herds, and finding ways to place existing elephants on sanctuaries and reserves.
And part of the answer is to stop taking wild elephant babies and condemning them to a life of suffering.
Another part of the answer is to explore HEC alternatives--such as non-electrical boundaries around crops.
There has been much real research in maintaining elephant herds in the wild. Googling the question will provide bona fide research by environmental scientists who truly understand the complexities of this issue.
Promoting riding baby elephants only ensures that unwitting tourists objectify elephants, and guarantees that more will be captured when these babies grow up and are no longer cute and docile.
That's why there are so many grown elephants begging in the streets.
Please reconsider this hypothesis. And do more research that includes protecting habitat, creating reserves, and encouraging respect for these endangered species.
Thank you.
Posted by
Anonymous
on
May 11, 2015 06:51
Editor Comment:
Your research is not thorough. The vast majority of domesticated elephants in Thailand are born in captivity. Stop all the emotional pleading and offer some practical options, or you're wasting your time and ours.
The gaping hole is that author seems to think that the only way to make a dollar off of an elephant is trekking and shows. If they can't do shows, they can't eat. Most of these animals are managed by an always poorly paid and sometimes ignorant and drunk mahout. The owners are cashing checks. I could care less whether an owner gets paid or not. I am not in Phuket. But I will say this, there are models all over that do not involve trekking or shows. You walk "with" an elephant. You watch an elephant get a bath. You feed an elephant. You touch elephant. You water an elephant. You all have the power in Thailand to change what is done with elephants and how they are treated. You seem to think there is no other way. To that I say, bull. Riding is not required and neither are shows. There are more humane ways for elephants to interact with tourists. For those of you in the dark, Phuket has problems. These are some titles of articles from this publication; More Illegal Elephants to be Trucked Off Phuket, Including New-Born
Phuket's Elephant Population Explosion: Officials to Check for Smuggling; Smuggled Elephants a Hefty Weight on the Minds of Phuket Officials; Second Berserk Elephant Tramples Handler to Death, This Time on Phuket; Elephants Hastily Shifted off Phuket Before Officials Inspect Camp. Now off of my soapbox and back to my "sofa."
Posted by
Bernie
on
May 11, 2015 07:01
Editor Comment:
The gaping hole is the activists' inability to come up with practical solutions. Shedding tears solves nothing. We've covered the issue of elephants and we intend to continue doing that - but wild calls for change without logic and practical strategies get nowhere.
Excellent article and absolutely correct
Have a ride on an ele and have a wonderful experience. Support this majestic creatures
Yes - of course we would all prefer they were roaming free in elephant sanctuaries but economically that's not going to happen
Don't ride jetskis - but spend your money on the eles!
Posted by
Amazing Thailand
on
May 11, 2015 07:07
Editor Comment:
Not a single practical solution has been put so far.
Dear Editor,
Why not do some real journalism and establish where all of the baby elephants on Phuket come from ?
Without this information, your stories concerning elephants on Phuket are incomplete.
Please save your insults for those who disagree with you - I am just a reader of Phuketwan seeking more information.
Posted by
graham
on
May 11, 2015 07:41
Editor Comment:
We don't have the time to follow elephants around, graham.It would serve not useful purpose. The vast majority of elephants in Thailand are the product of domestic breeding. We are far more concerned about their future. You should be, too.
Alan,
And in your spare time after solving the elephant issues could you also solve world peace, take steps to stop the next financial crisis, solve the apparent global warming, famine issues, world political instability and the after lunch maybe re- educate the worlds terrorists.
Then there is the easy question of where baby elephants come from. From the daddy elephant isn't it?
Posted by
Manowar
on
May 11, 2015 09:01
@manowar
I think you will find both a mummy and daddy elephant are needed.... :-)
Posted by
Discover Thainess
on
May 11, 2015 11:31
"The gaping hole is the activists' inability to come up with practical solutions." Why should activist solve this problem? Elephant OWNERS need to solve the problem. Who is crying? It is in an owners interest to see that the money making resource makes money for as a long as possible, doing as little as possible. So from a financial stand point is it more idiotic to put 4 people on an elephants back for a trek or provide a way for tourist to get the interaction without risk of injury to them or the $ making animal? Does it make sense financially to train and retrain an animal to do tricks, again risking injury to the money maker? You want to make this about activist, when it is not. You can do this another way, but CHOOSE not to. If you say you can't, then I pity you because it is really sad to be so closed.
Posted by
Bernie
on
May 11, 2015 11:48
Editor Comment:
Why should activists solve the problem? Well, who needs activists if they don't have solutions to problems?
Somebody remember the lady who chaining their elephant 23 h/d, but firmly maintains that she has the elephants never mistreated?
As we all know the bird lovers, who are completely sure their birds sing so beautiful in their cages because they are happy.
The spoiled young lady with her cute puppie, that will be replaced as soon as it is no longer cute?
All say they love their animals. A difficult mission to change the mindset of some people.
But, dear Ed, you can not accuse your readers for lack of solutions, unless your solution is not one of your sharpest brainstorms as well.
"Deal with it if you can not change it?"
With this concept we would still live in the Stone Age.
What comes next? Why it is wise to pay the slow lories tout or why it is wise, to visit Phuket Zoo, the aquarium, Tiger Kingdom?
You want solutions from your readers? Here is my:
Boycott everything what looks like cruelty to animals, even at the price that the current generation of the affected animals further suffering, but the following elephant babies will have it better. If you ride the elephants, what a sign is? A charter to continue and continue?
There is also a higher level of the issue, it's not just about the animals, it is also about our culture, values ????????????????and convictions. We show the wrongdoers and criminals that there are many people out there finding it is disgusting and abominably tormenting creatures.
Give them a thumb down, where ever you see it, they have to learn that there are other values than momentary pleasure and greed.
Posted by
Georg The Viking
on
May 11, 2015 13:19
Editor,
Rather than following around elephants, perhaps you could ask their Owners where they came from ?
You should have time for that as you have interviewed the Owners on several occasions.
Your story is incomplete without this information.
Promoting elephant tourism on Phuket without the slightest attempt to find out where these baby elephants come from is irresponsible journalism.
Posted by
graham
on
May 11, 2015 14:56
Editor Comment:
I've never met the owners of any elephants, graham. We don't promote elephant tourism. The paragraph at the bottom of the article clearly states the views of the author are not those of Phuketwan. The article itself is a useful response to the waffle of animal rights zealots. As we've said, the elephants on Phuket are mostly born of domesticated parents. Your lack of research is alarming.
What about the dark secrets behind the elephant rides. The Phajaan, the suffering in chains, breeding/rape programs, baby elephants taken away from mothers, bull hook hits up to 70 a day and so on. I even heard elephants are not allowed to lay down/sleep for 6 months. My friend told me 25 years ago about the elephant heads bleeding because of the bull hook hits during her elephant ride. Unfortunately these secrets cannot stay secret anymore in 2015 due to social media and the smart phones. If you want to support an elephant, visit ENP or have a walk with an elephant. DO NOT RIDE an elephant = my opinion.
Posted by
patriek paap
on
May 11, 2015 20:02
Editor Comment:
Emoting about elephants is fine if you don't get at the wrong end and end up covered in dung. This is the dark secret behind an elephant ride. Few people believe this kind of dung.
The fellow commentor "Sue" above is not me.
You may not get a trademark on your online identity, then there are few "Herbert"s etc., it 's normal.
However my avatar is distinctive.
Moreover, I appreciate the aim of the fellow contributor to the section, to look for Win/Win solutions.
That is a proper and more sustainable way to do things in life.
Posted by
Sue
on
May 11, 2015 22:30
I have visited Thailand many times on my way to and from Asia for Business and pleasure.
One of my least favorite things about Thailand is there exploitation of elephants for tourism.
It is a sad cruel abusive situation for the elephants I am very well acquainted with animals of all species since that is my work, and I would not endorse elephant riding as tourism nor compare it with horse riding.
This is a sad article a pathetic excuse at propaganda I strongly encourage everyone to boycott elephant tourism and also to boycott Thailand as long as it persists with this type of cruelty.
Posted by
Diana Lavery
on
May 12, 2015 08:44
Editor Comment:
Propaganda? I think there's actually more of that on the activists' side, where emotion is generation without supportive evidence. So far, we've seen no comprehensive plan for ''saving'' Thailand's elephants, just tears. This article merely states a different, more logical perspective. Personally, I wouldn't ride elephants, horses or camels.
NEVER ride an elephant. They are beaten, abused, denied food and water just to break their spirit so unknowing humans can ride them. It's not cute! It's not fun! Open your eyes and hearts to their enslavement.
Posted by
Pamela Miller
on
May 12, 2015 12:35
Editor Comment:
Is this some kind of cult, Pamela? You tell us all this stuff, and we obediently worship the golden elephant teardrop?
I would never ride an Elephant.
I will not support profiteering from wild animals or their domestication for financial gain.
I accept their confinement for the purpose of preservation but nothing more. I don't visit Zoos. If I need to see wild animals, I should go to the wild or make do with TV.
Posted by
Herbert
on
May 12, 2015 13:03
I've lived in Naiharn for 12 years, have never and never will ride an elephant from one of those camps. Simply the baby elephants - swaying side to side all day due to boredom - that they use to draw in tourists by chaining them to the entrances should be enough to put off most caring people (or at least people that see it regularly, I guess a tourist could be forgiven for not recognising the significance of this).
I drive past elephants like they're cows these days. I have friends who have loved elephant trekking. And I respected your article about the change.org/'Nadia' debacle (in which PW was openly critical of these camps), but this article actively promoting these camps does not sit easily with me at all.
Do I have the solution ? No. (Am I expected to in order to have an opinion ?) I do know that two wrongs don't make a right. There must be a better way.
Posted by
James
on
May 12, 2015 14:38
One can find cruelty to animals in every single country in the world.
In billion times and accepted by people who want to buy cheap food.
To boycott Thailand because of the elephants in front of this background is completely ridiculous.
Always when it's about whales, elephants and dolphins people like you Pamela and Diane wake up reflexively.
What you do, is the real propaganda, excited, and know-it, annoying repeating of phrases.
For what?
When the elephants are so important for you just come here and protest rather than boycott a country for a minor detail. Could be many other important reasons to boycott Thailand (not for me) but not animal abuse.
Your stupid slogans are really not helpful.
But I stick to it, I'll show consistently thumbs down when I see cruelty to animals, not very brave, I know, but it's not the topic of my life.
Posted by
Georg The Viking
on
May 12, 2015 14:43
I find cruelty to vegetables disgusting. The poor vegetables living a quiet existence, harming no one, roots firmly embedded in local soils and living a happy life.
Then a vegetarian comes along and rips them out of their home, away from family and friends, throws them in a sack full of other abused vegetables.
Carted off to the kitchen, skinned alive, chopped into pieces by a sharp knife, internal juices pouring out from within and bathed in boiling water until no life exists.
How dare anyone eat vegetables, do you have any idea how painful this is for vegetables?. Stolen from their communities for ones own pleasure, the suffering, the pain inflicted by sharp knives, being boiled alive, the horrible and hideous slaughter, whole communities wiped out in a single day, the unthinkable horror and pain. How anybody can support this indiscriminate harvesting is beyond belief.
As for most creatures, they certainly have a place. Generally just under the gravy
Posted by
Manowar
on
May 12, 2015 18:55
Manowar,
I see you described your experience well in the chapters 1 to 6 of the book "Confession of a Buddhist Atheist" as you practiced in Tibet then:
http://goo.gl/SLCel1
That book I like so much))
Posted by
Sue
on
May 13, 2015 02:41
Sue (the original one),
Yes, I was at one with the earth in those days riding my elephant, talking to fauna, even giving them each a name while in search of an alternative lifestyle.
If you listen carefully and are in the right frame of mind plants can talk back to you, even call out your name as long as it's Russell. Unfortunately, the right frame of mind requires a dosage of chemicals that in most countries is illegal.
Posted by
Manowar
on
May 13, 2015 07:23
Elephants have nothing to do in town and do need to live wild. Writting that riding an elephant will help them is PURE LIE - You're a MONSTER, Mr. John Everingham! Shame on you
Posted by
Bea
on
May 14, 2015 16:35
@ bea. Wake up and stop smelling elephant dung. At this time, 397 Rhino's have been slaughtered in South Africa alone. Yes I founded, Saving Private Rhino in SA. Elephant meat is very tasty and makes fine steaks.
Wake up and smell reality please.
Posted by
Robin
on
May 14, 2015 18:38
At least someone wrote something reasonable. Love it! All this circuit around elephants in internet is humiliating.
People don't have jobs and starving while some 'nature lovers' discuss how elephant riding is cruel. These elephants have decent jobs compare to some folks of our own kind.
Posted by
DIFF7
on
August 4, 2015 06:03
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Good words from John
It's sad but true this is the best for them at present
I believe they can be reintroduced into the wild research suggests from studies of the pygmy elephants in Borneo that these may have been domesticated once, but they are not bothered by humans unlike the elephants in the wild I have encountered in Thailand and would easily fall prey to hunters and it's believed the pygmy elephants returned to the wild two to three hundred years ago
Posted by Michael on May 10, 2015 09:13