Elderly elephant Nam Chok spent decades being used to give rides to tourists at an elephant trekking camp in Pattaya. Now in her sixties, her owner agreed to send her to a sanctuary for her retirement.

 

The partially blind elephant is suspected to have been caught from the wild, and has been in captivity for decades ever since. She has recently been working at a trekking camp in Pattaya, where elephants are used to entertain and give rides to paying tourists.

 

When the rescue team arrived at the camp, Nam Chok still had her riding saddle on and worked until her last day. Thankfully, her owner had agreed to let Nam Chok retire, and wildlife rescue centre Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand (WFFT) stepped in to offer her a sanctuary home at its elephant refuge.

 

By Tanakorn Panyadee

 

Full story: The Pattaya News 2023-10-18

 

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12 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

The partially blind elephant is suspected to have been caught from the wild, and has been in captivity for decades ever since. She has recently been working at a trekking camp in Pattaya, where elephants are used to entertain and give rides to paying tourists.

Sad that these animals are abused for the satisfaction of tourists

35 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

Sad that these animals are abused for the satisfaction of tourists

One can imagine she has had a miserable time during those decades. 

So glad to see her finally free again to roam around without a tourist on her back. 

Seems to me the manager let the elephant go only because she was half blind getting too old to work. How many elephants, or suspected caught from the wild elephants remain working at this tourist attraction?

2 hours ago, jacko45k said:

One can imagine she has had a miserable time during those decades. 

it also makes me wonder if the poor Animal will be able to adapt to its new environment after such an oppressed existence.

I really hope that it can, and is offered all support in doing so

We visited Nong Nooch on Sunday, wasn't aware they had elephant rides, 14 elephants lined up for tourists, and a couple unattended just standing, swaying, sad to see on what otherwise was an enjoyable day out.

5 hours ago, gomangosteen said:

We visited Nong Nooch on Sunday, wasn't aware they had elephant rides, 14 elephants lined up for tourists, and a couple unattended just standing, swaying, sad to see on what otherwise was an enjoyable day out.

They had elephant rides in 2019 when I visited. The also had elephant football in an indoor arena

An English lady tourist was gored to death about 20 years ago but nothing has changed.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2001/may/12/helencarter

On 10/19/2023 at 7:42 AM, jcmj said:

So glad to see her finally free again to roam around without a tourist on her back.