The Agonising Blows That Expose The Evil Secrets Of Thailands Elephant Tourism Con:

[Lite Beer]

The agonising blows that expose the evil secrets of Thailand's elephant tourism con: The Duchess of Cornwall's brother tells how baby elephants are brutally starved and tortured

By MARK SHAND -- Mail Online.

There are few things more adorable than a baby elephant.

Little more than 3ft tall and naturally curious, they are the undisputed stars of the scores of elephant camps created in the forests of Thailand to offer tourists the opportunity to get close to the world's largest land animals.

For many of the 850,000 Britons who go on holiday to Thailand every year, a trip to an elephant park is an unmissable part of their trip.

While some are doing good work, the vast majority of elephant camps are commercial enterprises, making money from tourists keen to have their photos taken with the young ones, bathing with the elephants or riding them, or watching them paint.

Some camps even dress up their elephants and have them perform unnatural and demeaning tricks, all in the name of entertainment.

But beyond the happy smiles of tourists posing with elephants, there is a hidden dark reality, of murder, smuggling and torture for the calves on show.

The booming Thai tourist industry is fuelling a huge illegal trade in baby elephants that are taken from the wild in Burma, beaten, starved and tortured to break their spirit before being paraded in front of fee-paying holidaymakers.

The reports we have recently received indicate that at least 50 to 100 elephant calves are still being taken from the forests of Burma every year to supply the tourist camps.

Even worse, it is estimated that for every calf smuggled across the country's 1,200-mile border with Thailand, up to five adult female and adolescent elephants from the calf's immediate family group are gunned down in cold blood.

Read more: http://www.dailymail...l#ixzz21Jpby7X2

--Mail Online-- 2012-07-22

[thequietman]

Money is number 1 in Thailand.

Everything else pales into significance.

Sad. So very sad.

[petedk]

I am speechless. I have seen reports similar to this before and thought that maybe, just maybe it was only a few cases of torture and mistreatment but it seems that it's very widespread.

I saw a documentary about the gibbons that people have at tourist attractions. The mothers of the gibbon are shot while holding the babies. The babies are then collected and sold to be used at tourist attractions. They are force fed amphetamines to keep them awake.

If the tourists stop going to the elephant shows, stop supporting these people then maybe there is a small chance this practice will stop.

"it's all the foreigner"s fault" may actually be part of the truth in this case.

[Yunla]

A Thai friend explained it for me back in the 80's. She said "this is not India, we not have elephant god here. Here they only elephant animal." She seemed to think that said enough.

Obviously that is a simplified view of the situation, but there should be a middle ground between worship and oppression.

Edited July 22, 2012 by Yunla

[Globalight]

Over 80 percent of the worlds population exists in Asia to the middle-east. HUMANS are the problem...

[h90]

And the shame is, it would be so easy to fix and it would be very popular. This unpopular government could make a few plus points easily.

[Unkomoncents]

This is precisely why many of the guidebooks warn against visiting the elephant camps in Thailand. It's not only a Thai problem, it's really a chronic exploitative situation that occurs throughout SE Asia. Just yesterday a Vietnamese soldier was apprehended for videotaping himself boiling a pregnant, endangered monkey alive. Hopefully, publicity and articles like this will force some of those in power to pay heed to these types of crimes. Unfortunately, with poverty rampant and law enforcement non-existent, it seems unlikely that anything will really change.

[DeepInTheForest]

Cruel beyond understanding. It must be stopped. Kudos to the original poster for putting this story on TV. Surely we can put a dent in the number of tourists who visit these places by publicizing this sordid news among our friends and visitors to Thailand. Without tourist customers, these outfits will quickly close their operations.

[Fookhaht]

About 10 years ago, I saw a documentary on the brutal methods Thai mahouts use to train elephants, which includes a gaff that tears at the elephants' skin, primarily around the face and head. This method and similar ones are the primary reason many elephants "go rogue," trampling and/or killing their trainers or hapless tourists who get in the way. Every beast/human has a breaking point.

Since then, I have always shunned any elephant-related shows and tourist sites in Thailand and the rest of SE Asia. Why? #1 as a personal humane statement against these barbaric practices, and #2 for my own personal safety.

There is also a whole body of evidence against the inhumane practices in the so-called "Tiger Temples" of SE Asia, of which Thailand is so popular as well.

I wish every tourist would do some of their own research before visiting a country and its attractions, rather than being the witless contributors to an inhumane industry such as the animal-based attractions here in SE Asia. The zoos in their home country are infinitely more humane. Better to stay home to see these animals.

[jaltsc]

These elephant camps and the practices within them must be well known to those who have the power to end them. Yes, it is the humans who are the problem, but it is the humans in power who bear the responsibility for not ending the torture and deaths of these beautiful living beings.

Edited July 22, 2012 by jaltsc

[evadgib]

Tourist deaths or injuries are routinely covered up where possible due to the ingrained fixation with "face" & "image". A (Swiss or perhaps Austrian) tourist was deliberatly killed a year or 2 ago by an Elephant who activly pursued & deliberatly crushed him (sandwiched between Elephants head & hard standing) yet the affair was portrayed as an accident (IIRC they claimed he fell off & more or less proclaimed it was his own fault!). A few kms away a tiger can safely be bottle fed/photographed by unsuspecting tourists because it's "comfortably numb".

Edited July 22, 2012 by evadgib

[lovetotravel]

This is a very brutal video to watch. It'll change your views on elephants in shows. I know I'll never go to an elephant show again.

[Ron19]

Disgusting practice which needs the goverments of Burma and Thailand to jointly stop it.

Edited July 22, 2012 by Ron19

[hellodolly]

Well I can't say I agree with the training process.

But I can say I have been to three different for profit elephant camps and have yet to see a baby elephant on display.

The ones I went to were always performed by adult elephants.

I have no idea how they are trained ad I am reasonably sure that mishandling is part of the process in many cases.

But I do not believe that is the only way. I am sure there is gentler ways also being used.

But they don't get donations so they don't talk about them.

I don't know how many read the whole article and I can assure you it did not paint a pretty picture.

How ever to me it would have meant a lot more if I had seen some of these baby elephants at the three commercial camps I visited.

It is unfortunate that after training many elephants are still abused. For instance the elephants on the street were not raised to have feet for pavement.

Here is the last paragraph of the article. It offers you a link on the brutal industry It also asks for money.

To save baby elephants from the tourist trade and support Elephant Family’s vital work, donate at www.elephantfamily.org/donate. Baby Elephant Smuggling Exposed: How Thailand’s Tourist Industry Is Driving A Brutal Trade In Baby Elephants was made by the Ecologist Film Unit in association with Link TV and Elephant Family. It can be viewed online at linktv.org /elephantsmuggling.

Read more: http://www.dailymail...l#ixzz21Krewznh

[lovetotravel]

When I see people bringing a baby elephant around to get fed for a few Baht, I never do it. Tell them to go away. It's a well known fact here in Thailand how these magnificent creatures are trained. Evil.

But them I basically against any animals in cages or captivity. Just not natural.

[chuang]

If the tourists do not visit such camp/show this would not have happen...its a matter of demand and supply...

[Ron19]

When I see people bringing a baby elephant around to get fed for a few Baht, I never do it. Tell them to go away. It's a well known fact here in Thailand how these magnificent creatures are trained. Evil.

But them I basically against any animals in cages or captivity. Just not natural.

I've a feeling that it is illegal to give to these people at least in Bangkok.

[FolkGuitar]

I spent a LOT of time in the Elephant Park in Mae Rim. For about 2 years, I was there several times a week, and got to know many of the mahouts. At no time did I see any elephants with wounds, although I did see the mahouts often hitting the elephant with their stick, but usually lightly. I believe that the elephants there are very well taken care of. Each elephant has its own very distinctive personality, and a lot of that comes from its relationship with it's mahout.

But on one occasion, a mahout was being unusually brutal to a three year old male who did not want to leave the river and go perform. This mahout was using the metal pointed end of the stick, beating the elephant behind its ear. After about 15 blows, the elephant turned on the mahout, head-butted him into the river bank, backed up a step and head-butted him again, crushing him into the ground, doing this over and over... I swear that I could hear the elephant saying with each head-butt... If.... you...hit...me...one...more...<deleted>@king...time...I'll.... Then the elephant stopped, shook his as as if to say ''asshol_e!" and walked back towards the paddock. He completely ignored all the tourists he passed, those who were unaware of what just happened at the river. He was angry at the mahout. He didn't turn rogue, he just got even. Cheers for Dumbo!

[lovetotravel]

I spent a LOT of time in the Elephant Park in Mae Rim. For about 2 years, I was there several times a week, and got to know many of the mahouts. At no time did I see any elephants with wounds, although I did see the mahouts often hitting the elephant with their stick, but usually lightly. I believe that the elephants there are very well taken care of. Each elephant has its own very distinctive personality, and a lot of that comes from its relationship with it's mahout.

But on one occasion, a mahout was being unusually brutal to a three year old male who did not want to leave the river and go perform. This mahout was using the metal pointed end of the stick, beating the elephant behind its ear. After about 15 blows, the elephant turned on the mahout, head-butted him into the river bank, backed up a step and head-butted him again, crushing him into the ground, doing this over and over... I swear that I could hear the elephant saying with each head-butt... If.... you...hit...me...one...more...<deleted>@king...time...I'll.... Then the elephant stopped, shook his as as if to say ''asshol_e!" and walked back towards the paddock. He completely ignored all the tourists he passed, those who were unaware of what just happened at the river. He was angry at the mahout. He didn't turn rogue, he just got even. Cheers for Dumbo!

So even there, abuse happens. I bet more happens that outsiders never see.

[FolkGuitar]

I spent a LOT of time in the Elephant Park in Mae Rim. For about 2 years, I was there several times a week, and got to know many of the mahouts. At no time did I see any elephants with wounds, although I did see the mahouts often hitting the elephant with their stick, but usually lightly. I believe that the elephants there are very well taken care of. Each elephant has its own very distinctive personality, and a lot of that comes from its relationship with it's mahout.

But on one occasion, a mahout was being unusually brutal to a three year old male who did not want to leave the river and go perform. This mahout was using the metal pointed end of the stick, beating the elephant behind its ear. After about 15 blows, the elephant turned on the mahout, head-butted him into the river bank, backed up a step and head-butted him again, crushing him into the ground, doing this over and over... I swear that I could hear the elephant saying with each head-butt... If.... you...hit...me...one...more...<deleted>@king...time...I'll.... Then the elephant stopped, shook his as as if to say ''asshol_e!" and walked back towards the paddock. He completely ignored all the tourists he passed, those who were unaware of what just happened at the river. He was angry at the mahout. He didn't turn rogue, he just got even. Cheers for Dumbo!

So even there, abuse happens. I bet more happens that outsiders never see.

It's not that 'abuse happens there,' it's that abuse happens where there are abusive mahouts. There are about 20-30 mahouts at the camp in Mae Rim, but in the years I spent there, this was the ONLY incident of abuse I saw. It was an abusive mahout, not an abusive camp policy. And he paid the price.

[FolkGuitar]

HelloDolly, here is a link to a photo I shot at the camp in Mae Rim of a week old baby.

And here's one more. Cute little guy! I can't seem to get the image to display here.

Edited July 22, 2012 by FolkGuitar

[redroo]

Very sad and bad stuff...

WILL MAKE A DONATION TODAY !!

[h90]

Disgusting practice which needs the goverments of Burma and Thailand to jointly stop it.

thai government is busy with whitewash its criminal owner....

No time for elephants.

[redroo]

and the link for donations is ;

www.elephantfamily.org/donate

Money talks ,bullshit walks

www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=money%20talks

[endure]

I am speechless. I have seen reports similar to this before and thought that maybe, just maybe it was only a few cases of torture and mistreatment but it seems that it's very widespread.

I saw a documentary about the gibbons that people have at tourist attractions. The mothers of the gibbon are shot while holding the babies. The babies are then collected and sold to be used at tourist attractions. They are force fed amphetamines to keep them awake.

If the tourists stop going to the elephant shows, stop supporting these people then maybe there is a small chance this practice will stop.

"it's all the foreigner"s fault" may actually be part of the truth in this case.

From the Daily Mail article

"

Until these steps are taken, it is not possible to say which camps tourists should or should not visit.

But one thing I want to make clear to anyone planning on travelling to Thailand is that we’re not calling for a boycott of the camps, which would be disastrous for elephants because the camps rely on tourist income to feed and care for them.

Tourists should instead report any concerns they may have to their hotel or tour operator, and otherwise support our efforts for change if they want to make a difference. "

[annabel]

So where was everybody's sympathy when the DNP ruthlessly and savagely raided and brutally confiscated 101 animals From Edwin of WFFT and Lek from the Elephant Nature Park and harrased both Edwin and Lek for weeks on end back in February / March & April ...?? DNP is suppose to be the Thai Government Department that protects the local Wildlife...?? I had posted a lot about this event back then but there was not much sympathy shown from TV in general. I guess the voice of a Duchess' brother has more clout / impact

At the same time Elephant poaching was rampant and a few officials of the DNP were caught as beeing involved with the poachers and Edwin & Lek spoke out about this and the result was harrassment from the DNP and the brutal, inhumane confiscation of the animals that Edwin & Lek had saved and took years in some cases to nurture back to a healthy life. Many of these animals have now died under the inefficient, incapable hands and very substandard enclosures of the DNP. Just as recently as 2 weeks ago , DNP was asking for funds as they finally admitted they couldn't manage to feed all the confiscated animals and keep them in proper condition / enclosures..... it's all very sickening and it's not that the Government is not aware of all this because it is all over the media both local and international....

http://www.wfft.org/wildlife-general/yes-you-can-visit-the-animals-anytimeor-no-you-will-never/

http://www.wfft.org/wildlife-general/dnp-overloaded-with-confiscated-wildlife-needs-funds/

[FolkGuitar]

From the Daily Mail article

"

Until these steps are taken, it is not possible to say which camps tourists should or should not visit.

But one thing I want to make clear to anyone planning on travelling to Thailand is that we’re not calling for a boycott of the camps, which would be disastrous for elephants because the camps rely on tourist income to feed and care for them.

Tourists should instead report any concerns they may have to their hotel or tour operator, and otherwise support our efforts for change if they want to make a difference. "

It costs a lot of money to feed an elephant. The Thais don't have that kind of money. And with the expansion of towns and villages, there simply isn't room enough in most areas to 'free range' a single elephant, to say nothing of a herd. There has to be a way for the Thais to get money to feed these animals.

There are several elephant rescue centers now, without dancing elephants or elephants playing football. Tourists can visit these places, interact with the elephants, help care for the elephants, etc., without the circus of the performing camps. These rescue centers need money. They need Tourist money. When more people support the rescue centers than the performing camps, then more animals will be in a safer environment. There may still be an abusive mahout now and then, but the management of the rescue centers won't tolerate it for very long.

Unfortunately, most tourists want to be entertained. They don't want to shovel elephant dung while on vacation. They would prefer to sit back and watch the elephants perform. Judging by the masses of people who flock to the Mae Rim elephant camp every day of the week, filling the stands to capacity and then some, and the 2-3 families who visit a rescue center, each week there isn't much hope until the government steps in.

[BirdsandBooze]

Some years ago I was on my motorcycle riding through a jungle area on the Burmese border when I came across a group of logging elephants with there mahouts and witnessed a mahout screaming at and holding a knife to his elephant's trunk. When I remonstrated with him I was left in no doubt what what would happen to me if I persisted. I never witnessed anything like that when I was in India.

[Somtamnication]

I accidentally saw the pic of the baby elephant in the UK paper. I was scrolling down to read the site and it popped up. Sickening. This country is truly a hypocritical society. I can see the handlers going to temple to tamboon for 20 baht and then go back and continue with the torture.

And thinking of the mother of the elephant. Their feelings are human-like. Sick sick sick

[Globalight]

So where was everybody's sympathy when the DNP ruthlessly and savagely raided and brutally confiscated 101 animals From Edwin of WFFT and Lek from the Elephant Nature Park and harrased both Edwin and Lek for weeks on end back in February / March & April ...?? DNP is suppose to be the Thai Government Department that protects the local Wildlife...?? I had posted a lot about this event back then but there was not much sympathy shown from TV in general. I guess the voice of a Duchess' brother has more clout / impact

At the same time Elephant poaching was rampant and a few officials of the DNP were caught as beeing involved with the poachers and Edwin & Lek spoke out about this and the result was harrassment from the DNP and the brutal, inhumane confiscation of the animals that Edwin & Lek had saved and took years in some cases to nurture back to a healthy life. Many of these animals have now died under the inefficient, incapable hands and very substandard enclosures of the DNP. Just as recently as 2 weeks ago , DNP was asking for funds as they finally admitted they couldn't manage to feed all the confiscated animals and keep them in proper condition / enclosures..... it's all very sickening and it's not that the Government is not aware of all this because it is all over the media both local and international....

http://www.wfft.org/...you-will-never/

http://www.wfft.org/...fe-needs-funds/

We must join together and PROTECT ENDANGERED animals like Edwin and leks I agree. Before I actually BELIEVE the Thai Government was honorable enough to protect endangered species in protected natural habitats and believed that these NGO groups were enslaving animals for the cash like the Tiger Temple. Did a bit more research and learned more of the Thai language and realized, that most asians in general see Wild animals as Food/Enemies. We must convice the government to CONTROL overpopulation of humans to really be effective in protecting these remaning endangered species. I call for 1 child 1 family act. \

STERILIZE only the men....