Elephants

Elephants abound in Thai art and culture. You'll find them in carvings, paintings, on clothing, as sculptures, and on bottles of the beloved local beer, "Chang". (Chang is the Thai word for elephant.) They are the national symbol of Thailand and they're admired for their strength, endurance and intelligence.

According to Buddhist tradition, on the eve of the Buddha's birth, his mother dreamt that she was given a lotus flower by a white elephant. As a result, the white elephant has become associated with royalty and is a symbol of the King. Historically, if a king was angry with someone, as punishment he would begift this person a white elephant Since these animals were considered sacred, the recipient could not put the white elephant to work, give it away, nor cause it any harm. They could only care for the animal, which was an expensive endeavour that could ruin someone financially. Hence the term "white elephant" which according to the Oxford dictionary is "a possession that is useless or troublesome, especially one that is expensive to maintain or difficult to dispose of."

The Thai people's connection to elephants goes back to the late 1500's when they were used in warfare against the Burmese, Malay and the Khmer. Elephants have been put to work for generations for the purpose of hauling, logging, transporting and farming, and as a result they have been forced to contribute to the destruction of their own natural habitat.

After logging was banned in 1989, thousands of captive elephants were moved over to the tourism trade as this was the only viable option available. The majority of captive elephants are now used to entertain tourists and/or take them trekking through the jungle. Visitors can play a part in helping to protect Thailand's elephants by choosing to interact with them in an ethical way.

In 1900, there were at least 100,000 elephants in Thailand. Today, there are only 3,000 to 4,000, and only half of these live in the wild. Sadly, Asian elephants are classified as an endangered species.En savoir plus