Elephant Nature Park

I woke up before dawn due to the jet lag. I couldn't get back to sleep so I washed up, dressed and walked to the Tha Phae gate. The streets had been swept clean, a contrast to the night before. I wondered why the city didn't provide more garbage bins. Maybe people would start dumping their household refuse there. At 0700 the only place serving was a fast food outlet where I had pancakes and coffee. When I got back to the hostel I saw that had I waited I could have had a healthy müsli breakfast cheaper. But the pick up time of 0815 didn't leave much time anyway.

I had arranged for a visit to ENP, an elephant refuge, for the day. I'm not really a fan of these beasts, they aren't sufficiently small, soft and cuddly for me, but they have their place in nature. I figured that since I was visiting Asian elephant territory, I might as well see them up close.

After picking up all the participants, we were transported to the park some 60 km outside Chiang Mai. Along the way they screened a couple of videos. One was about the cruel practice of using baby elephants as tourist attractions, and another was a profile of the park and its founder as well as footage of wild elephants.

We were day trippers, but other lengths of stay are available. Some people volunteer for longer periods at the park. The park gets more applications than they have accommodation for, so long stays are often booked out far ahead. These beasts must engender affection in people. We also saw a school group getting an educational experience.

Our guide explained the precautions we should take around elephants. Then it was morning feeding time. The elephants came to the platform to be fed watermelons, pumpkins and bananas. They scooped up the proffered food with their trunks and popped them into their mouths. As you can imagine, they have great appetites and most of the park fees goes towards food.

Naturally people found the babies cute.

All the fruit have to be purchased from farmers. This is the banana section of the larder.

And the watermelon section.

The video showed them being fed corn but our guide explained that corn is seasonal so not available this time of the year.

The guide is explaining how they concoct a mush ball containing medicine so that the elephant won't reject the medicine due to the bitter taste.

The Asian elephant is endangered due to poaching and habitat loss. In 1989, due to the alarming rate of deforestation, a total ban was placed on logging in Thailand. This was the right move for the forests and the wild elephants. But it had the side effect of putting many captive elephants out of work. Some of them ended up in the streets as tourist attractions. Elephants are sensitive to noise and vibrations, so it's very cruel to keep them in an urban area.

After this we moved to the skywalk where we could approach the elephants and pat them.

Notice the odd posture of this elephant. Medo's ankle was injured by a falling log when she was a logging elephant. Later she was inflicted more injury by a bull elephant in an attempt to use her to breed. Her backbone is permanently dislocated. ENP rescued her and now she can live out her days at the park.

Elephant enjoying a mud bath.

Many of the elephants at the park have appalling histories of abuse before being rescued. Some are blind, some have landmine injuries. Their stories make one ashamed of humans.

Elephant having a good scratch.

Lek, the founder of the park, is a diminutive Thai woman who has devoted her life to caring for these rescued beasts. She is a saint to these animals.

After a delicious vegetarian lunch (Thai are so good at cooking delicious food even in the absence of meat), it was time to bathe the animals. Elephants love this part, and happily stood in the water while the visitors splashed buckets of water over them.

I didn't participate because I had not come with a change of clothing as you get wet in this activity.

I couldn't help thinking Ikea Effect when watching my fellow day trippers at work. Those who have taken a psychology course will understand. Similar to the Tom Sawyer Effect.

After the elephant washing, more pictures were taken around the skywalk. The handler is feeding a cute baby.

Another feeding, for the afternoon. Then the guide took us on a walk around the grounds and pointed out the elephant who had gammy foot due to a landmine. Landmines are a hazard in the border areas of Thailand.

Elephant groups have social structure and the guide told us which elephants would associate or avoid.

And that was the end of the program for the day before being driven back to our lodgings. It wasn't the most scenic of days, but I'm glad I took the tour to learn more about these amazing animals. If there is one lesson to take away from the visit, it is never patronise street displays of elephants in Thailand.

I asked to be dropped off near the Tha Phae gate so that I could change money and have dinner before walking back to the hostel. At the market, I found a hole in the wall place with glowing testimonials by visitors from all over. The Pad See Ew was indeed fantastic. I had it with Moo (pork). Beef is not Oink, by the way, hahaha. For 50 baht (< $2) I got a portion about half the size of what one would get here but that was all the better for portion control. This was followed a gelato for 30 baht.

No Yi Peng lanterns tonight. Maybe people were saving their effort for the weekend.