thai3 Posted July 21, 2001 Report Share Posted July 21, 2001 The real thing, not women at home. There was a TV film on this week in the UK on Thai Elephants. Even though I have not eaten meat or fish for 30 years I would not describe myself as an animal lover, the site of a three legged one eared dog fails to move me and as for cats they could all end up in the pot for all I care. But sight of a small Elephant being repeatedly bashed on the head with a hammer by it's 'trainer' made even me sit up. The film explained how the baby Elephants you see around thai resorts are obtained by shooting the mother first, then trained and sold on as tourist attractions, if they die durring the training they get stuffed and sold anyway. This was backed up by the thai workers at a national park on the Burmese border who protect the Elephants from poachers.Even though the animals are supposed to be banned from Bkk you still see them being touted around. Not to be encouraged if anyone ever feels the urge to buy the banana for the Elephant.-peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 21, 2001 Report Share Posted July 21, 2001 I thought Thai elephants were protected via decree by HM the King himself???? Thus, abusing an elephant is a serious crime. Am I wrong? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CondomKing Posted July 21, 2001 Report Share Posted July 21, 2001 quote: Originally posted by teacherwannabe: I thought Thai elephants were protected via decree by HM the King himself???? Thus, abusing an elephant is a serious crime. Am I wrong? Sounds plausible and I think I might have heard something like that myself one time. A couple of years ago there was a public out cry due to the mistreatment of tourist attraction elephants here in Bangkok. Now that I think of it, it had more to do with elephants causing traffic jams. I think it had something to due with the size of an adult elephant being led around the streets of the city. It was announced that the mahouts had a timeframe during which all elephants were required to leave the city limits. There was a big discussion about how the elephants really liked it here in Bangkok and how the mahouts had no other source of income, etc. So, for a while there were no elephants here, and then, eventually the younger, smaller version started to appear. I guess it's another unenforced law or maybe there is a loophole regarding the size and weight of amimals allowed in the city for the purpose of public display. Would it surprise anyone who's been here more than a day? Can't be a happy life for a young elephant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 21, 2001 Report Share Posted July 21, 2001 Originally posted by teacherwannabe:"I thought Thai elephants were protected via decree by HM the King himself???? Thus, abusing an elephant is a serious crime. Am I wrong?" This thread hits on one of the very ugly sides of Thailand. These days, Thai society is ruled by sheer greed. Anything for money. Forget about the Buddhist concept of "metta", loving kindness for all living beings. Baby elephants are fed amphetamines because otherwise they couldn't be taken out on the tourist round at night; their natural instinct is to sleep - surprise, surprise. All those tourists who buy bananas for the poor animals are suckers who unknowingly perpetuate the problem; those elephant drivers on the other hand are despicable low-life who in Western countries would be locked up for cruelty on animals. How I hate the sight of them! [ July 21, 2001: Message edited by: Scum_Baggio ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 21, 2001 Report Share Posted July 21, 2001 Elephants like it in Bkk? Yeah, we all beleive that! Once saw an elephant in soi 3 throw it's owner and stampede down the road with bananas flying everywhere. Quite a frightful sight actually. Prior to this the owner had been smacking the elephant repeatedly about the head with his stick and yelling at it because it wouldn't turn around on command. I guess it was tired of being submissive and decided to get one back - 'som nahm nah' was all I could think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BkkShaggy Posted July 22, 2001 Report Share Posted July 22, 2001 Shoot the mother elephant to obtain the young ??!! If they can find ANY elephant in the wild that is. The elephant population in Thailand has been decreasing rapidly due to many factors including poaching, deforestation, farming, etc. There are many "unemployed" elephants to feed already. I almost hit elephants in two occasions while driving back from work. It was dark and it was walking on the street without any lights on.!! Very dangerous for them and us. When I see elephants on the street I just don't pay for the food. Most of the money goes to the owner - not to the elephants. Giving out the money encourages other elephant owners to take this kind of job. The elephants are not fed enough. They walk on the hot concrete road all day. If they get crazy and out of control I don't blame them. The government has a plan to encourage the owners to take their elephants to a designated place for tourists. I doubt if it would work if there's not enough advertising about the place. So PLESE don't feed the elephants. This way the owner will take them back to where it comes from. [ July 22, 2001: Message edited by: BkkShaggy ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 22, 2001 Report Share Posted July 22, 2001 Originally posted by BkkShaggy:"Shoot the mother elephant to obtain the young ??!! If they can find ANY elephant in the wild that is." There are still 1,000+ wild elephants, but I wouldn't be sure if mother elephants are shot or if the young ones are born in captivity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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