Ban Lai Na

Elephants have a long history in Thailand. Unfortunately, that history includes hundreds if not thousands of years of terrible abuse from infancy to old age. They are captured, chained, beaten in a process called “the crush” - referring to crushing the elephants spirit in order to tame them. They have been used in dangerous logging operations, tourism (riding), circuses, entertainment, forced breeding - they are generally poached at a young age. The handlers of these elephants are called “mahouts” and pair with an elephant at capture and then stay with them their entire lives - the mahouts have been taught to control them with sticks with nails in them and hooks they put through their ears. It’s a terrible history.

Thailand is slowly coming around and making laws outlawing abuse, but it’s still happening - so elephant sanctuaries have come into existence. People rescue them from these abusive situations, heal them and allow them to live their lives in peace on their land. Unfortunately, when visiting a sanctuary you have to be very careful as there are only a few ethical ones here in Thailand - many are using the elephants to draw in tourists, still subjecting them to a life of service and abuse.

We did a lot of research and located a great, ethical elephant sanctuary in the northern part of Thailand - Elephant Nature Park and had an overnight adventure (two full days) there learning about the facility and seeing the operation. It was AMAZING!

They not only rescue elephants, they rescue all kinds of abused or injured animals - elephants (116), water Buffalo (100+), cows (50+), cats (2000!), dogs (600!), bunnies, and pigs! Many of these animals live together, coexisting, roaming free during the day - it’s amazing to watch. And the tourists and workers just walk amongst them.

The elephants cannot be released back into the wild, unfortunately. They’ve tried and found once domesticated, they are unable to survive on their own. They do run adoption for the cats and dogs though.

The elephants come to the park occasionally already in family units but sometimes they come individually. They’re given a chance to join another family grouping if they wish to or they can live alone. When one dies, they even allow the elephants to be present at the burial to mourn.

Each elephant has had mahout - a handler- its whole life and because they are domesticated and not wild, they still expect one to be by their side. So the park has a rehabilitation program of sorts for the mahouts as well. They hire them, remove them from the bad environments they are working in and teach them how to handle the elephants humanely and ethically. Each of the 116 elephants here has their own mahout. They have no weapons or tools anymore - they are armed with only “bananas and love” and it’s amazing to watch them work so closely with these massive animals in such a loving and kind way.

There are no cages or fences here (for the elephants). They roam freely, with their mahout watching over them. The elephant groupings have their own territory and stick to an area and there’s hundreds of acres to pick from. At night the elephants are brought into large shelters in their groupings where there are fences. This is for their own protection from predators and human poaching. This also gives their mahout a break from their care for the night.

We saw terribly injured elephants. Many blinded from slingshots and other cruelties, many with broken deformed legs that never healed correctly, one who stepped on a landmine breaking one leg and injuring the other foot terribly, and some females who had their hips and legs broken during forced breeding operations. It was heartbreaking to see. Some elephants have lived their entire lives chained, and this is their first experience getting to roam free.

In the wild, male elephants leave the herd at 9-11 years old and only return for mating - so this is a sanctuary almost exclusively of females. Males can’t coexist in the herd. They have rescued a small handful of them, but they have to live in isolation, unfortunately.

We didn’t ride the elephants, didn’t touch them (unless they approached us and even then, it was rare), we didn’t bathe them - All we did was watch them, marvel at them, walk among them, and we were allowed to feed some of the older ones rice/banana balls for one of the feedings. Overall, this was a remarkable experience that I can’t praise highly enough!!

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