Shame: We Cannot Even Protect The National Symbol: Thai Opinion

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EDITORIAL

Shame: We cannot even protect the national symbol

The Nation

Thailand's elephants are in serious decline, and we will have no one but ourselves to blame if we allow them to suffer further abuse and extinction

News involving elephants has always received national attention because Thais view the elephant as a sacred animal that symbolises the Kingdom. Indeed, an elephant used to grace the old national flag. However, such strong interest in the plight of elephants does not stop them from being abused.

The recent news about a burned elephant carcass found at Kaeng Krachan National Park in Petchaburi province was headline news because some parts of the elephant were dismembered in a gruesome manner that has never been seen before. Damrong Pidech, director-general of the National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department, said the way the elephant was dismembered indicates a new form of violence that could threaten the wellbeing of other wild elephants.

There are an increasing number of foreign tour groups that come to Thailand to eat exotic food, especially elephant meat and organs. These ill-informed tourists believe that an elephant's sexual organs can stimulate their sex drive. Sadly, many elephants are abused and killed because of the selfishness of local people and the stupid beliefs of certain tourists.

It is saddening and unfortunate that an increasing number of wild elephants are caught, abused and killed in spite of efforts to suppress this illegal trade.

Elephants have always played an integral part in Thai culture. They are sacred animals, and they were also used in wars in the old days. They are used to transport people. They are used to help promote tourism.

However, the living conditions of many captive elephants are far from dignified. Wild elephants are still illegally caught and trained, and many are forced to roam the cities to beg for food and money. Some are brutally abused. They are forced to overwork and they are overdosed with drugs to increase their stamina.

Not surprisingly, the number of elephants in Thailand has sharply decreased over the past few years. The number of wild elephants now is estimated at only 2,000 to 3,000.

The decrease in the number of elephants is due to various factors. First of all, Thailand's forest coverage is continually shrinking. Many wild elephants are therefore forced to migrate to find food, and farmers do not like having wild elephants on their land because the elephants destroy and eat their crops. Traditional logging activity has also decreased along with the disappearing forest, and this has meant less work for captive elephants in the forestry trade.

In addition, the current laws provide loopholes to enable the illegal trade in elephants. For instance, the law that covers the trading of domesticated elephants has created loopholes by which elephant smugglers fabricate documents to make wild-caught elephants appear as captive-bred animals. The number of domesticated elephants is estimated to surpass the number of wild elephants by only 1,000 or so. The discrepancy in the numbers suggests that many wild elephants have been caught and falsely registered as domesticated.

Southeast Asian elephants are in demand because they can serve various purposes. They can be trained to perform in entertainment and tourism venues and circuses. Their tusks are used as decorative items, and this of course has resulted in poaching for ivory. In addition, the burned carcass in Petchaburi shows that some ignorant people believe that certain parts of an elephant are an aphrodisiac.

The lax enforcement of the laws also enables some traders to illegally smuggle elephants from local forests to other countries. As a result, young elephants are often separated from their mothers before they are old enough to be registered. Poachers often kill a mother to get the calf, and the young elephants are then brutally abused in order to instil obedience.

This is all the more sad when we consider the "human" qualities ascribed to elephants. They need forests to live in and parents to teach them to survive.

If this situation is not improved, elephants may soon become extinct. If that happens, we should be ashamed that we have failed to protect the animal that is our national symbol. And will we have the courage to tell our children about why the elephant became extinct - that the tragic demise of this magnificent and proud animal was caused by our utter selfishness and stupidity?

-- The Nation 2012-01-20

[Alvarez]

If you want to protect elephants, then you must fight poverty, ignorance and corruption, those are a roots of all evils.

[jalansanitwong]

Some years ago Thailand kicked up a stink about some of its elephants being sent to a new Australian elephant reserve staffed by professionals.

The Thais were worried the elephants would be mistreated. Pathetic.The best thing that could ever happen to any elephant is to get out of Thailand. Elephants are abused terribly on a daily basis to make money for greedy Thais. Foreigners know far more about caring for elephants than these knuckle heads.

They dont deserve them. In 50 years there wont be one single elephant,tiger or rhino or any animal left in this country. They will have all been killed for profit. maybe one creature will be left....soi dogs.

Edited January 20, 2012 by jalansanitwong

[silsburyhill]

At the foot of the sharp incline up towards the Big Buddha here on Phuket, I was disgusted to see a fully grown elephant tethered with a large chain, swaying backwards and forwards in obvious distress, overlooked by a grinning monkey asking us to buy bananas to feed the poor creature. I let him know in no uncertain terms what I thought of his treatment of the elephant, to be met with the usual snarl. I wish the other nitwit farang tourists had shut up cooing 'Oh look, how sweet'. Idiots.

[JurgenG]

Last week a few hundreds Forest department officials were in Wang Nam Khieow terrorising poor farmers who had erected bungallows in their backyard while their colleagues were poaching the same wildlife they are supposed to protect.

The problem is government agencies should start doing what they are supposed to do and stop being some kind of independent for-the-profit organizations. It's incredible for a western mind how government departments can act on their own without control from the government.

The proper way for a country to function is the parliament makes the law, the government departments make sure that the law is applied, at least in theory, that the way it's supposed to work. In Thailand, any organization, the army, the forest department ..., as long as they have some kind of "higher ground", can makes law and regulation as they see fit without supervision from the government.

[Gone]

Believe it or not, in Cambodia there is 1 man that owns (has the right to) every single Elephant. You NEVER see Elephants being forced to walk the streets in Phnom Penh eating bananas from tourists.

[Payboy]

Shame: We cannot even protect the national symbol

Phew, for a distressing moment there I thought something had happened to Siam Paragon.

[ColinChapman]

I thought the national symbol was a panda?

[wintermute]

Perhaps they can increase elephant conservation by farming them out for elephant steaks for Chinese tourists at the Chiang Mai zoo. That was one of the brilliant ideas by one of Thailand's brain trust political elite they can just broaden it a little to include elephants aside from black rhinos and other endangered animals.

Edited January 20, 2012 by wintermute

[Lite Beer]

Baby Elephant's Body Found in Kuiburi National Park

Park officials discovered the body of a male baby elephant in Kuiburi National Park this morning. The officials are investigating the cause of death.

Prachuap Khiri Khan Provincial Livestock Office Veterinary Expert Saroj Chantlad and investigators from the Bann Yang Chum police station in Kuiburi District of Prachuap Khiri Khan Province visited the scene where the body of a baby elephant was found near a pond.

The pond is located on the north side of Ruam Thai Village in the Hat Kham Subdistrict of Kuiburi District.

The area falls under the royal forest restoration project.

The body of the elephant was discovered three meters from pond in the forest. At the scene, officials discovered a 1 meter vehicle track but they found no signs of poachers or any elephant-hunting tools.

Saroj said the wild baby elephant was only 4-months-old, and it has been dead for about four days.

No wounds were found on the elephant's body.

e believes the baby may have died of a blood infection, or it may have drowned in the pond.

So far, officials have determined that the mother elephant attempted to pull the baby up from the pond to save its life.

However, the officials have not flipped the body of the animal over for further examination, as they are waiting for the director-general of the wildlife national park to join the investigation.

-- Tan Network 2012-01-20

[animatic]

If you want to protect elephants, then you must fight poverty, ignorance and corruption, those are a roots of all evils.

One of the two roots of the problem certainly.

But the other is a need of education about the superstitions of virility and eating elephant parts, which spurs much of the current market. Ivory is less the issue, though still of value, but it's the aphrodisiac or strengthening fallacies that are killing off the elephants.

Edited January 20, 2012 by animatic

[bigbamboo]

If you want to protect elephants, then you must fight poverty, ignorance and corruption, those are a roots of all evils.

Sadly in order to do that there need to be enough Thais willing to lead that fight and I've yet to see any sign of that happening.

[hanuman2543]

"The lax enforcement of the laws also enables.." Isn't that not one of the root causes of many things going wrong in Thailand(for example: traffic, environment, labor conditions, human trafficking etc)?

[TheWalkingMan]

Elephants are just another asset to be exploited by the locals. They just have never been taught how to care.

[zzaa09]

If you want to protect elephants, then you must fight poverty, ignorance and corruption, those are a roots of all evils.

Or even better, not to attach human qualities and character towards the magnificent beasts.

[Bagwan]

I note that some of the blame has been laid at the door of tourists. Are the tourists doing the killings - or are unscrupulous Thais making a killing?

[DeepInTheForest]

This editorial is quite good, on a topic that should matter to us.

Alvarez and animatic, above, correctly point out that ignorance, poverty, and corruption, and wildly incorrect beliefs contribute to the crisis of the elephant.

There is another cause. It may even be greater. I am referring to the pattern of land use and development that has chewed up almost all of the once awe-inspiring Thai forests.

Capitalism, as it is practiced currently, has no brakes. We can condemn failures in countries like Thailand, but every country, especially the more developed ones that most of us hail from, have failed to reign in the excesses of our current global capitalist culture.

I don't think any poster in this forum hails from a country that can be held up as an example of how to protect natural treasures.

It's something we all need to work on, around the globe.

[DeepInTheForest]

Believe it or not, in Cambodia there is 1 man that owns (has the right to) every single Elephant. You NEVER see Elephants being forced to walk the streets in Phnom Penh eating bananas from tourists.

Cambodian elephants are nearly extinct. There are only 300 wild elephants left, and 100 in captivity.

http://khmerization.blogspot.com/2010/01/cambodian-elephants-nearly-extinct.html

[JurgenG]

This editorial is quite good, on a topic that should matter to us.

Alvarez and animatic, above, correctly point out that ignorance, poverty, and corruption, and wildly incorrect beliefs contribute to the crisis of the elephant.

There is another cause. It may even be greater. I am referring to the pattern of land use and development that has chewed up almost all of the once awe-inspiring Thai forests.

Capitalism, as it is practiced currently, has no brakes. We can condemn failures in countries like Thailand, but every country, especially the more developed ones that most of us hail from, have failed to reign in the excesses of our current global capitalist culture.

I don't think any poster in this forum hails from a country that can be held up as an example of how to protect natural treasures.

It's something we all need to work on, around the globe.

Don't agree with you. I'm currently in an area that is literally terrorised by the forest department. I'm staying with a friend who employed a couple of retired farmers to take care of his land. This couple has two grown up kids, both married with children. They all have recently lost their job thanks to the forest department and my friend said they may have to fire the couple, the last bread winners of the family, if the harassment from the forest department doesn't stop. How long do you think some people will wait before turning to the national park for income in they can't quickly find a job to feed their family ?

I've an other example of total hypocrisy from so call "nature lovers". A poster here, and in some other forums, was an active activist against the development of the rural area around the Khao Yai national park. He is also a father with two young kids. When asked what will he do for the education of his two kids, he replied that of course if will go back home (Australia I believe) because there is no decent school for his kids where he is living now. And what about the kids of the local villagers ? So we should preserve the "personal garden" of this selfish expat and give priority to his enjoyment above the future of the local kids ?

Back to my village. As long as they had a job and a future, the villagers had a clear understanding that their future depends of the National Park and they respected it. Now ???

Edited January 21, 2012 by JurgenG