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National Geographic : 2005 Oct
Contents
WITH THE STREET BUSINESS drying up, more elephants and their mahouts are finding work in tourist camps. In the seaside resort of Pattaya, visited by more than a million people annually, the number of camps has increased from three to nine in recent years, with one keep ing nearly 80 animals on hand. All told, about half of Thailand's domestic elephants now spend their days giving rides to visitors in a howdah -a strapped-on bench seating two or three people-or performing in shows. The acts range from demonstrations of timber work to circus like spectacles in which the animals dance, do handstands, pedal oversize tricycles, play soccer, and shoot basketballs. Whether you view the stunts as thrilling or degrading, they supply daily proof of an elephant's keen intelligence, coupled with a surprising degree of finesse. Phairat Chaiyakaham is the owner of Pattaya Elephant Village, a tourist camp where the ringmaster's spiel during daily performances is unusual in its emphasis on elephant welfare and conservation. Chaiyakaham grew up in Bangkok enthralled by the elephants he saw moving cargo onto trains, and over the years he's watched as the lives of working elephants have been trans formed by changing circumstances. He intro duces me to the bull Boon Num, whose life story can be traced through documents that must be filed after an elephant is taken from the wild and each time it is sold. His tale mirrors the long journey of Thailand's elephants from forest dwellers to labor force to tourist attractions. Ten feet tall, four tons thick, and around 70 years old when we meet, Boon Num used to work for the Suay people of eastern Thailand, traditionally the country's foremost catchers and trainers of wild elephants. Getting fresh stock from the wild is considered more expedient than breeding elephants in captivity because preg nancy keeps a captive female out of work for 20 to 22 months. Boon Num's job was to chase free roaming herds in Cambodia until one of the two mahouts on his back could lasso the quarry, usually a baby elephant, with a rope of braided water buffalo hide. Boon Num would then hold off the mother and other relatives trying to come to the tethered animal's aid. Afterward the cap tive would be placed in a "crush"-a tightly confining pen-and subjected to a will-breaking ceremony called phajaan,still practiced in places today. The taming process can be brutal, involv ing days of torment with spike-tipped poles until the elephant learns to move in response. After his career of capturing wild elephants, Boon Num abruptly found himself in another part of the country with a new owner, a new ma hout, and a new job: logging. Though Thailand outlawed further cutting of its forests in 1989, clandestine logging continues in remote areas, particularly near the Myanmar border. Hauling timber required less speed but every bit of Boon Num's power-and it took a toll. Injuries from THAILAND'S ELEPHANTS 109
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