Think of Thailand and you likely conjured up images of pristine beaches, massages and elephants. While it’s true that all of these things could be used to represent Thailand, elephants are actually the national animal and they play a key part in Thai history, culture and identity.
Thailand’s Elephant Species
In the world, there are two species of elephants. They are commonly known as African elephants and Asian elephants. The elephants that are found in Thailand are Indian elephants, a subspecies of the Asian elephant.
You can identify an Asian elephant most easily by looking at their ears — they are more triangular in shape than African elephant ears. Additionally, Indian elephants frequently have naturally occuring areas of pink skin with spots.
These elephants are endangered and the populations have rapidly declined over the last several decades. Their main threats include habitat loss and human encroachment. While poaching is a problem, it is not as big of a problem as it is in Africa because only male Asian elephants have tusks.
Elephants in Thailand’s History
Elephants and people have a long history in Thailand. People have used elephants for manual labor for as long as local history has been recorded. Most frequently, the animals have been used for logging and as war mounts. Perhaps most famously in Thailand, they were used by King Naresuan when he defeated the encroaching Burmese at Don Chedi.
Did you know that the king of Thailand offered to send elephants to President Lincoln when he found out the the United States didn’t have any? Lincoln politely refused, citing the poor climate for elephants in the U.S.
King Naresuan wasn’t the only royal with a special connection to elephants. In fact, all royals are connected to elephants, particularly white elephants. These elephants, which aren’t albinos but rather simply genetically different, are traditionally all property of the crown.
In 1921, King Vajiraidujh declared all wild elephants as property of the government, which prohibits taming any wild elephants. Elephants that were already tamed are considered draught animals, like oxen or horses and are treated as private property.
Elephants in Thailand Today
Today, logging with elephants has been banned. This left a lot of elephant owners with a huge burden of taking care of the animal, but no reliable source of income. Many turned to using them as a part of the tourism industry.
While this has prevented the mahouts (elephant caretakers) from becoming destitute, it has resulted in lots of maltreatment of the elephants. Perhaps the largest grievance animal rights activists have is against riding elephants. Most places where you ride an elephant, it’s done in a metal cage on the elephant’s back. The bars from the cage dig into the elephant’s back, which is not the best place for them to bear weight, causing sores and wounds that never have a chance to fully heal.
The other big objection is what is known as the pajaan, or the breaking. This is done to baby elephants and refers to “breaking their spirit” and is done to tame them. It is a very brutal practice and is how the elephants lose their wildness.
If you are wanting to interact with elephants on your trip to Thailand, please do your due diligence into the place you are visiting to ensure that they are treating the animals ethically. Two place that I can wholeheartedly recommend are Elephant Nature Park, which is a sanctuary for former working elephants, and , Patara Elephant Farm which is working to breed elephants with the eventual goal of releasing them into the wild and rebuild the wild elephant populations.