the coup and effects

in May of this year there was a coup in Thailand and the military took control of the government.  in the six months proceeding the coup there were demonstrations.  at this point the curfews have been lifted, the general has been installed as prime minster and there is not a heavy military presence at all.

at this point the situation seems stabilized but it is a quite undemocratic process because they removed the popularly elected government.  the people of Thailand seem resigned and a bit defeated when it comes to politics and of course there is an economic impact as the tourists choose to go elsewhere.

spirit houses

some are simple.  some are as elaborate as a palace.  some are big and some are small.  they are in every house and business.  a spirit house is a shrine to the protective spirits that dwell on the property.  the concept of a spirit house comes from Animism which predates Buddhism.  the purpose is to provide an appealing shelter to spirits who if not appeased can be mischievous.  the spirits are guardians of the home and help in business maters.

there are often fresh food or flower offerings at the shrines so when you are walking down  the street there will be a plate of prepared food sitting on the sidewalk. that's not trash or food for the homeless.  that is a spirit offering.  at this tree a full soda with a straw so it's ready to drink and a joss stick are offered to the tree.  there ae elaborate rules around the construction and placement of these shrines like they must face north or east and can not be in the shawdow of the building it's protecting.  if intercession from a special spirit is required, rituals can be preformed.

the place i stayed in Chiang Mai had quite a nice spirit house.  i did notice a correlation between the affluence of an establishment and how elaborate the spirit houses were.  at this spirit house there was an offering of two apples, some liquid in tiny cups, a heaping plate of garlic, a mango and flowers.

goodbye elephants

everyone is sad to be leaving and our last day is spent saying goodbye to the elephant, dog and human friends we have made here.  it's hard to put into words how amazing this week has been and i wish everyone could experience it.

on one of my elephant walks we saw a group of tourists and elephants on the other side of the river.  the tourists were walking with the elephants not riding them and the guide told us as a few of the other trekking camps have seen Lek's success they have started to change their model from riding to observing.

it appears the Elephant Nature Park is doing well financially, they have attracted the attention of high profile animal activist like Bob Barker, the day and overnight tours generate a considerable sum [i'm guessing 5K+ a day] but there are over 100 employees and 60+ volunteers to feed and shelter.  40 elephants and hundreds of dogs to feed.  an elephant eats about 300 pounds of food a day and all those trucks delivering pumpkins, watermelon and bananas are doing it for free.  i am sure Lek has and will continue to have a few sleepless nights thinking about the ongoing financial requirements of a sanctuary this size.

then there is the government, in 2010 i talked with her about government support and she laughed at me.  she said then the government was opposed to her mission and vision.  although there appears to be some dialogue that has started with the government about elephant conservation in the national parks there is still a long way to go.  the government is seen by many as unstable after the coup earlier this year and it's impacted the tourism that brings in money for the park.

when i think back to the conversations we had in 2010 and the progress that has been made in just four years i'm again in awe of what Lek has been accomplished and confident that she will continue to be a voice for the elephants of asia.

as we leave the park for the ride back to Chiang Mai we pass a group of elephants on the road.   they have the wooden seats strapped to their back with tourists in them.  the mahouts are riding just behind the ears on the neck of the elephant and have the hooks on sticks to manipulate the elephants for the ride.  after a week playing with the elephants at the park it's a startling reminder that there are so many elephants that don't have the freedom offered the elephants at the sanctuary and there is much to be done around elephant conservation and management in Thailand.  all the proceeds earned from ad clicks this month on this site will be donated to the Elephant Nature Park to support their work.

elephant walks

during the week at various times with various guides we have the opportunity to walk through the park and visit with the different social groups in the herd.  we call them elephant walks.

after a couple of days it's really easy to identify the groups.  the three ladies that always hang together.  here the are playing in the river.  the lady on the left is Mae Do who i remember from my last trip.  she is one of the gentlest elephants at the park and one we get up close to alot.  she's fiercely protected by the other two ladies that's she's formed a bond with.  both her back legs are dislocated.  i'm not sure why, the two common reasons for dislocations at park are being hit by cars or trucks while street begging or during logging operations when the logs roll down a hill and hit the elephants.  yeah, both of those sound like horrific situations.

the group with the baby boy and baby girl (called the Dok Mai) family.  it's a large social group because the female elephants gravitate to the social groups with babies.  they all want to be nannies and auntie to the baby and some times even compete for the baby's attention.  because the babies are so active they are fun to watch and the changing dynamics of the group are easy to see.


the Nuvonn family with just one baby boy.  there are some elephants that don't get along so well.  some elephants are bullies some of the old ladies try to monopolize the time with the babies.  it's on these elephant walks that we get a chance to see the dynamics of the social group play out.

there were a few instances when i saw an elephant chasing another one but it didn't amount to much other than a bunch of tourists running for cover which was a little bit funny.  a lot of funny after the fact when everyone is safe and the elephants back with their mahouts.

one day i was on the sky walk during the elephant bathing time and saw one of the elephants start towards another elephant.  they were both in quite deep water so she was moving slowly but i could see her mahout waving from the bank and yelling to get her attention so i knew she was getting into trouble.  next there is trumpeting and waving of trunks and all the elephants start to react by leaving the river.  that triggers the guides who are Thai to start yelling 'up to the river' repeatedly.  which means nothing to me but the urgency in their voices is very clear to everyone who starts to bolt in every direction.  remember, i'm safely on the skywalk so i'm thinking it's all kinda funny.  wish i had the video.

every moment spent on the elephant walks is precious and everyone enjoys being up close to the elephants.  one day after an elephant walk Jodie needed some help to get some steamed pumpkin over to some of the old ladies.  when their teeth wear out it's harder to get the nutrition they need so the elephant kitchen steams up some pumpkin which is easier for them to digest.  they missed getting it at the platform feeding so we haul three baskets out to the pens and feed them there.  steamed pumkins are nasty and to distract the other elephants in the pen we break up some of the pumpkins and feed it very slowly to keep them away from Jodie who is shoving steamed pumpkin as fast as she can into the mouth of the old lady.  

dog days at the Elephant Nature Park

when i visited in 2010 there were dogs everywhere.  on the platform, in the fields, on the skywalk.  they came from all over and just stayed.  i think there were about 30 at the time.  now there are over 400.  elephants are a little bit wary of dogs in general and can stress them out a bit so the dogs have been given their own space at the sanctuary.

the catalyst for a formal dog rescue project began as a result of the catastropic floods in Bangkok in 2011.  in rented boats navigating the river of streets Elephant Nature Park volunteers rescued dogs trapped on rooftops and desperate for help. of the 2,000 dogs pulled to safety, 155 were brought to Elephant Nature Park to begin their second chance at life.  large 'dog runs' were built with all kinks of things for the dogs to climb on, swim in and play around.  a small animal hospital was constructed and a full time vet and clinic manager have been employed to care for ENP's new family.


there is lots of downtime for the elephant volunteers.  the chores are usually done between 8AM-10AM in the morning and another hour in the afternoon.  one day it rains and they let us go after unloading a banana truck.  most all of the volunteers head over to the dogs to help give them walks or socialize as needed.  this can be dangerous because these dogs are adorable and they have made it very easy for US, UK, Australian and Canadian citizens to adopt these dogs.  it's not at all expensive and it's quite fast.  four dogs are adopted out by volunteers in our group.

some of the dogs still roam freely around the elephants, skywalk and platform - the legacy dogs that were never placed in the kennels. the staff and volunteers who are on the dog project work really hard.  it'll be after we've had dinner and they are still running about to find the free roamers and deliver meds or treats.   the ones who don't enjoy a tummy rub from strangers wear a red ribbon around their neck.

this is mary, from LA, with Kalup the dog she is adopting

 did i mention there's a cat kingdom as well???? 

that's what they call it and so there are quite a few cats that roam around when they see you coming they roll right over on their backs for a tummy rub.  they stay pretty clear of the elephants and one day i see an elephant [i think it was Faa Sai] chase one of the cats under the platform.

elephant poo

today's my day to get up close to the elephant poo.  we are in a bit of a rush as they are taking the volunteers on a field trip to a local primary school and we need to finish quickly so there's an extra team on the chore this morning and it goes quite quickly.  it takes less than an hour for us to muck out 12 or so of the elephant pens.  the pens are the sleeping areas for the elephants.  they are concrete and have been built since my last trip when the elephants were chained by the foot at night inside a shelter so they would not roam off the property.  cleaning the pens is not so bad as the elephants are vegetarians and not so stinky.

we are off to the primary school to practice some english and it's a pretty  nice school.  they have chairs and desks and chalkboards as well as activities for the kids.  we make some bracelets together and learn a rope jumping game.  the children seem happy and well cared for.













we shoot back to the park for lunch.  did i mention the food here is fantastic.  everyone is loving the food even though it's all vegetarian.

next we head out for some afternoon chores.  they call it fertilizing but that's really just a nice way of saying we're bagging elephant poo for the other half of the volunteer team to spread around some newly planted trees.  it is really hot and humid and we fill three bags then sit in the shade for 5 minutes and repeat for about an hour when our coordinators set us free for the afternoon.

 Mae Jan Peng was born in 1945.  she is the oldest elephant at ENP.  she was rescued from a logging camp in 2010.  despite her age she is in good health.  she hangs out with her mahout most of the day and he puts a flower in the big hole in her ear to cover it up.  it makes her easy to spot and identify.

a naughty elephant named Faa Sai

 as i previously mentioned, Lek's team at the Elephant Nature Park [elephantnaturepark.org] uses 100 percent positive reinforcement in the training and management of the elephants.  each elephant has a mahout which is an elephant handler.  they typically develop deep bonds because they are with the elephants all day, every day.  the mahout makes sure the elephant is safe and fed well.  it's not always a love match as in this case.

Faa Sai is a very smart, highly trained elephant that was rescued from a performing circus.  over the last few days the elephant gossip in the park has been about how she doesn't like her new mahout and has been balking at going into her pen at night.  at 4PM when the mahouts start putting the elephants into their pens for the night i wander over to the main platform to get a front row seat.

sure enough, they are luring her with all kinds of treats, including a pickup truck filled with corn stalks [yeah, it's really yummy for the elephants and it's like a tea time snack].  she's not having any of it and eventually the mahouts have to ignore her.  she doesn't like that either so she wanders over to a bunch of trees.  i whip out my camera because i know she's going to be getting into some kind of trouble and i am not disappointed.

she wraps her trunk around one tree and gives it a tug but it doesn't move much.

she moves over to a smaller tree and gives that a tiny shake.

yep.  that one gives a little bit and so there's a big shake and a huge CRACK.

she finishes it off by stepping on it and comes crashing to the ground.

she dances around a bit, rips off a branch with her trunk and shakes it around.

Derrick [not a mahout] shows up and tells her she's naughty and gets her to push it out of the road.

which she does, sortof, with a bit of flamboyance.

Faa Sai is

NOT SORRY

she does a victory lap around the platform with one of branches.  it starts to rain [monsoon rain] and it takes about two hours to get her into her pen.  

it takes a ton of patience and heaps of love to do what the team at the Elephant Nature Park does and i am so happy that they are getting worldwide recognition for their devotion.

the elephant debate

it's my second day and i'm ready to work.  we report at 8AM to the meeting point where our chores are posted on the board.  i'm assigned to the elephant kitchen crew this morning.  it's the 'easy' job.  the other chores include cutting corn stalks or bamboo leaves on village farms, mucking the pens [shoveling elephant poo] and cleaning up the park [again, shoveling elephant poo].  when i signed up to be a volunteer i knew exactly what i was getting into and expected that i'd be shoveling elephant poo every day so to get a day in the kitchen was a bonus.

let's talk about the 'easy job'.  we start with moving pumpkins from the shelves to the washing area.   all the fruit/vegetables that the elephants eat need to be washed to remove any chemicals that may have been applied.  we form a line and hand them person to person until they get put into the washing bin.  there are spiders and broken, rotting pumpkins but everyone is in a good mood and we rock the pumpkins into the wash bin pretty quickly.  next, we wash the pumpkins.  the staff will chop them up and put them in the baskets along with bananas and watermelon that will be fed to the elephants off the platform.

 a truck filled with watermelon arrives so after a second line to move pumpkins and wash them we move over to unload the truck.  it's crazy to see how much food is required to feed these elephants.  when i was here before there were about 20 elephants and that number has doubled in just four years.  it takes us about an hour to unload the watermelon truck but our coordinators put on some music and the time goes very quickly.  we finish morning chores by 10AM and have free time until lunch at 11:30 so i hang out with some volunteers on the platform and we watch the day visitors feeding the elephants and work on getting to know the family and social groups of the herd.

each elephant has a story and it's always a very sad story of abuse.  some elephants have spent their time as street beggars.  some were abused and drugged to work in illegal logging business.  others were blinded because they refused to work.  four of the elephants have serious injuries because of land mines.  the thing about land mines is they don't kill the elephants - the mines just blow off part of their foot leaving them unable to work and in need of extensive medical care and rehabilitation.  the tourist and trekking industry has also produced casualties as babies are forced to follow their mothers on treks or are separated too early from their mothers.  another common injury in these elephants is dislocated legs - sometimes from being hit by cars or trucks while being used in the street begging for tourists or as logs have rolled down onto them in logging operations.

the elephants rescued by Lek will live out their lives [elephants in captivity can live 60+ years] at the  park, enjoying the freedom Lek has purchased for them.  by the work she has done to create this elephant sanctuary she has created a spotlight on the treatment of asian elephants.  the debate is getting heated.  one one side is Lek's team who use positive reinforcement and the other side is using traditional training techniques that involve a stick with a hook.  everyone who knows me knows where i come down on this issue.   let me try to explain the debate...

one side support the use of traditional training methods.  so here's the hook used by elephant handlers of domestic elephants exploited by the tourism industry [trekking, elephant riding, street begging and circuses].  it's a crude wooden stick with a metal hook on the end.  it begins with a breaking process called a 'phajaan' or 'crushing'.  here's a link to video of what is involved.  http://phajaan.webs.com/   it's not an easy video to watch.  all the domesticated elephants go through this process to break their spirit.  when you see the elephants with tattered ears at the sanctuary it makes you cry to know the holes in their ears are from repeated torture and poking of the hook.  to see the baby elephants at the park whose 'spirit has not been broken' is pure joy.  they are loving and playful and sometimes naughty but all controllable.

the other side is taking a non exploitative approach like Lek's which is positive reinforcement and a focus on the elephant, not the tourist.  it is not without it challenges.  it requires a lot of love and tons of patience.  more of this on my next post about a very, very smart and highly trained elephant who is acting a bit naughty.  the elephants who are born at the sanctuary never go through the breaking process.

Tubtim is the newest arrival at the park and has just been here for a week.  not a lot of her history is known but she has immediately taken on a nanny/auntie role with one of the baby elephants.

"Since Tubtim arrived at the park and adopted Navann [one of the baby elephants] Lek has followed her every day to observe how she react and over protection of Navann. We are now seeking for her history and family tree and want to find out what happened with all of her babies in the past. Daily to see Tubtim always alert on Navann her eyes keep focus of his movement , it makes Lek want to find out more. Normally most captive elephant when they have baby , the calf will take away from the mother to train and then sell to the other owner when some of them was very young still nurse . We are now still on the work to researching of Tubtim’s background soon when we have all confirm then we will give you more update."

get an update on Tubtime here .... http://www.elephantnaturepark.org/category/elephant-herd/

the Elephant Nature Park

the Elephant Nature Park is an elephant rescue and rehabilitation center in Northern Thailand where you can visit or volunteer.  they have been involved in dozens of rescues which have created a thriving elephant herd. the park provides a natural environment for elephants, dogs, cats, buffaloes and a few other animals. volunteers and visitors contribute to the healing while learning about elephants.  there are projects in Thailand, Cambodia and Myanmar and visits can be arranged to any location.  all the revenue from the ads on this site for this month will be donated to the ENP to support their work.

there are many places in SE Asia where you can get up close to elephants.  i've chosen to go to the ENP because of the phenomenal work they do there.  it is 100% funded through private donors and it is the first sanctuary for elephants in Thailand.  i visited in 2010 and always planned to return when i had a week to spend as a volunteer.  i get asked a lot about the favorite places i've visited and since 2010 i've always replied 'Elephant Nature Park'.  

the park van picks me up at my hotel and up until this point i wasn't sure i had been booked correctly. there is another volunteer going a day late and they put us in the van with a few overnight guests.  the volunteer program runs Monday through Sunday but they are quite flexible about people showing up late or leaving early.  they have day trips from Chiang Mai so it's easy to get back and forth to the city if needed.

volunteering in SE Asia comes in a lot of flavors.  there is a bit of an industry around volunteering and research needs to be done in advance to be sure it's a good match.  in general i'm not a fan of paying to do volunteer work but in this case the charge covers food, housing, insurance and volunteer coordinator costs.  there are plenty of organizations that do not charge and some even provide room/board or a stipend to volunteers.


back to the elephants.  on the ride out to the park which is about an hour we watch a safety video because the elephants roam freely on the property and it's important to understand and respect their space.  we arrive at the park in time for the morning feeding.  the elephants are fed twice a day from the platform area.  the first day at the park is an orientation day so there aren't any assigned chores.  after the feeding we get a tour of the health clinic and meet a few elephants before lunch.  

after lunch we watch a short video about the sanctuary then head down to the river for a swim and elephant bath.  in the afternoon we do another elephant walk to meet more of the herd and run into Lek, the founder, down by the river.  we have a short chat and i ask for a photo.  i've only just arrived but already i can see that there has been so much work done in the last four years.   it's blazing hot and after we are back at the main platform we are handed over to the volunteer coordinators.  we get moved into our rooms and they are a little bit scary.  i'm in the original volunteer housing which probably hasn't been updated since it was built.  it's a block of rooms - two beds per room - with a row of shared toilet/showers.  we affectionately refer to this housing as the ghetto.

there's a volunteer meeting before dinner and Q&A with Jodie.  Jodie is from Detroit and has been with the project since 2003.  she is an elephant nerd for sure and because she's a westerner she is the go to person for asking questions about culture, etiquette, etc..  she talks more about safety.  there are elephants here who have hurt and killed humans so it's important to be aware at all times when around them of the potential dangers. 

dinner and a short introduction to Thai culture by the volunteer coordinators.  topics include Thai Royalty [loved and respected - no chance a woman can be monarch], Feet & Head [keep your hands off Thai heads and your feet off the furniture], Wai [appropriate Thai greeting], Clothes [women need to cover their shoulders and knees - men don't need to bother] and lastly a brief tutorial on Thai language.  turns out there are 42 letters in the alphabet, and multiple tones, which means 1] the same word can have a very different meaning based on the tone used and 2] there is a diminishing possibility i will ever learn this language.

that's the end of the first day.  i crawl under the mosquito net and try to sleep but the bed is rock hard and i keep waking up.  still, i am so happy to be here and looking forward to seeing more of the elephants.

We women foundation

i spent the day at We women foundation.  it's an NGO focused on providing educational opportunities for marginalized women from Burma.  the founder is from Holland and the organization has an office there as well as in Chiang Mai.  they do a fantastic job with the resources they have and plan to release a documentary about their work at the end of the year.

http://wewomenfoundation.org/

The We women foundation is dedicated to empowering women from marginalized ethnic areas in Burma. By providing professional and educational opportunities to the strong women of Burma, the We women foundation strives to build capacity within the marginalized communities in Burma so that women can make and influence policy decisions which are too often made by outsiders.  

i've sorted out the reservation to the Elephant Nature Park and the hotel insists there is no problem with my reservation so i'm really excited to be spending the next week with the elephants.