THAILAND


ABOVE: Mother and baby elephant Credit: Shutterstock/Mike Workman


traditionally used by mahouts to exert control over their animals, are nowhere to be seen.


Instead, on our pre-booked day visit, we observe elephants foraging in the forest from 10 to 15 metres away; chop sugar cane, which they eat while we watch respectfully from an observation deck; and join a cookery class to make energy balls of banana, tamarind, rice husks and medicinal herbs, which are fed to the elephants by their mahouts, rather than us, to minimise contact and stress. “ChangChill is thriving, and serves as an example of an elephant- friendly business model that not only improves elephant welfare, but also ensures the sustainability of the business and livelihoods of the local people involved,” says Hatai Limprayoonyong, wildlife campaign manager at World Animal Protection.


Pick wisely According to national parks data, there are between 4,000 and 4,400 wild elephants in Thailand, mainly living across 91 protected areas, including wildlife sanctuaries, non- hunting zones, national parks and forest parks. The latest data from World Animal Protection’s 2020 Taken for a Ride 2 report found there were 2,800 captive elephants being kept across 246 ‘tourism camps’. When the Thai government banned the use of elephants for logging in forests in 1989, thousands of the mammals’ owners – largely members of the Karen Indigenous communities, who live in the hills to the north of the country – suddenly became jobless. iëiÀ>Ìi Ìo wn` niÜ Ü>Þà Ìo «>Þ for their elephants’ keep, most of them transitioned into tourism.


ª 68 ASPIRE JANUARY 2025 aspiretravelclub.co.uk


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