What Is The Deal With The Thai Gov't Buying Elephants?

[laa]

Hey All

This is especially directed to those in Surin who may have a better idea of what is going on. I have some Thai mahoot friends in Baan Talad, Chomponburi. They have said that the Thai gov't is looking to buy their elephants. I found a CNN article about this saying that yes this is the case and the gov't will pay about $20,000 USD/ele, saying this is bc they can't look after the ele's etc... According to the mahoots, some of the guys going around the Issan w thier elephants are being harrassed by police and there is a lot of pressure to sell.

So - does anyone know anything more about this? Please enlighten me!!

Thanks

Laa

[peterallard]

There are many versions of this story - Google "thai government buying elephants."

Thailand offers Bangkok elephants for adoption

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) — Elephants idling outside discos or lumbering through traffic have been part of Bangkok's colorful nightlife for nearly two decades. Now authorities want to send them back to the jungle.

Thai officials say they have come up with an innovative solution: offering the pachyderms for adoption.

Several groups have already paid the estimated 500,000 baht ($14,664) to buy an elephant and relocate it to a reserve in the countryside.

Half of the city's 200 elephants have been relocated since the program began in March, and Bangkok Governor Sukhumphan Boriphat vowed in a glitzy press conference Friday that the rest would be out within a year.

"Roaming elephants can cause accidents, especially at night, and even more importantly are harmful to themselves," Sukhumphan said at a ceremony that featured a marching band, a Thai film actress and several heavyset women who were recent participants in a Miss Jumbo beauty contest.

"It's important that we get elephants out of Bangkok as quickly as possible," the governor said.

Elephants first arrived in Bangkok in the late 1980s after a logging ban made them redundant in forestry work. Since then, they have been trafficked into the city from rural Thailand and even neighboring Myanmar by politically connected gangs who count on corrupt government officials to look the other way.

The elephants' handlers persuade tourists to buy the animals sugar cane and other snacks or use the elephants to promote the sale of ivory trinkets. Many of the animals get hurt when they collide with cars or step into drains or potholes.

The city has tried repeatedly to evict the animals — at one point bringing in trucks to cart them away — only to have the plans undermined by lax enforcement.

This time, the campaign includes putting microchips in the elephants so officials can track their whereabouts, and trying to convince foundations to buy and relocate them.

Once in their new homes, the elephants will be trained to search the forest for their food.

Elephant owners can use the money to get into a new business, and those who refuse reasonable offers will be fined, city officials said.

"They are icons of our country," said Chookiat Prathipasen, deputy secretary general of the Elephant Reintroduction Foundation, which has adopted 63 elephants and plans to take a total of 81. "They should not be treated as pets. They should be treated nearly like humans."

[laa]

Yes - this is the news that I have seen - it only talks about the elephants in BKK. The ones that I know of who are being bothered by police are in Surin and only take their ele's around the Issan.

It's just frustrating to think that you can give the mahoots a chunk of $$ and they will easily do something else! I assume there is no job retraining programs here!

[dkstoney]

If I'm not totally mistaken they were completely banned from Bkk in 98 and a lot of them were gone for quite a while, but it seems they've filtered back in.

[krading]

"Elephant owners can use the money to get into a new business, and those who refuse reasonable offers will be fined, city officials said"

Wake up with an elephant's head in the bed with you.

[laa]

Wake up with an elephant's head in the bed with you.

LOL! that would make an awesome movie!

[zzaa09]

I'm sure they have something sinister in mind. LEAVE THE BLADDY ELEPHANTS BE....