Think Twice.

[Rooo]

I found this most distressing, hope that a few people might see this before embarking on an elephant ride. It might also help people understand their suffering.

[Basil B]

Shocking...

Last April I booked a full day tour of the island, this was an action packed and not everything was to my liking, would have gladly missed out the mummified monk, genitalia rocks, declined the photo with the tiger and a ride on the top seat of 4x4, when booking the tour I had not seen that the Elephant trek was optional, as the people selling the tours are on commission they certainly would not advise that there was a cheaper option, or that the elephant ride was rubbish, but it was, a trek of no more than 200m up the hill and back, certainly not worth 300B.

[samuijimmy]

One has to wonder why there is talk of an Elephant over sixty years old in Japan and has been in a concrete enclosure for it's entire life is being considered to be moved to Thailand..... now that would be distressing too... (report on UK Sky News)

[papayasalad]

say no to elephant ride... you can go to six flags instead...

[craigt3365]

Good post Rooo. The more people know the misery these magnificent beasts suffer so they can ride them, the better. Luckily, word is getting out. Sadly, some here are just after money.

[SOTIRIOS]

...is it the tourist that should regulate everything....???

...come on...

...like the beaches...go swimming...or diving...and die.....

....all this tourist revenue...where is it going....

...and they want to add 200 and 1000 baht...per head more...for IMPROVEMENTS.....???

...get real...

[ozyjon]

Thank you for the video of the elephants, they are beautiful

majestic animals but i couldn't watch the cruelty.

[Basil B]

Another sad tale in the Pattaya news section.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/893258-elephant-at-pattaya-tourist-attraction-dies-after-being-spooked-by-fireworks/#entry10399860

Edited February 8, 2016 by Basil B

[georgemandm]

...is it the tourist that should regulate everything....???

...come on...

...like the beaches...go swimming...or diving...and die.....

....all this tourist revenue...where is it going....

...and they want to add 200 and 1000 baht...per head more...for IMPROVEMENTS.....???

...get real...

Are you joking me to blame the tourists is it the tourist that dose that to them no .

But I agree the tourist can help by stop riding them .

[ggt]

Unless you are into "golden showers"...do not stand too close to them either...

Gentle giants...under distress...acting out from time to time...

[sawadee1947]

go to youtube and you find horryiying videos about wild behaving elephants. Also about mistreated ones.

There are wild animals anyway even they look friendly.

[JenksB]

Whilst I agree about the abuse of these magnificent beasts being horrific have you considered the alternative, these animals cost a fortune to feed, if there was a boycott on them by tourists what would happen to all these animals, they certainly wouldn't keep them because they wouldn't make money, so what is the alternative, you cannot release them into the wild, they would die of starvation or invade villages and cause untold damage, the "government" in Thailand certainly wouldn't do anything, so what is the solution, humanely destroy the animals in captivity? I think that would cause a world wide uproar, can anyone provide a sensible solution that wouldn't cause suffering or death to these animals, yes you can ban capture of wild elephants but hundreds are born in captivity every year, in fact the majority of elephants now in the venues are born in captivity. So do YOU have a solution to this! it is no use just shouting about how bad it is until you come up with an alternative

[Johpa]

Not sure how old that video is, but if you go to the largest elephant camp in Thailand, the Mae Sa camp north of Chiang Mai, or visit the other larger camps up around the Mae Tang, you will not see any such abuse and you will be informed that the elephants breed within the camps and are not captured in the wild. Of course if you go to the elephant camps on the islands down south where there are no traditional elephant stomping grounds and no traditional elephant peoples such as the Karen or the Suai you are bound to be more disappointed.

[Basil B]

Unless you are into "golden showers"...do not stand too close to them either...

Gentle giants...under distress...acting out from time to time...

And do not sit in the first 5 rows of a tiger show either...

[craigt3365]

Whilst I agree about the abuse of these magnificent beasts being horrific have you considered the alternative, these animals cost a fortune to feed, if there was a boycott on them by tourists what would happen to all these animals, they certainly wouldn't keep them because they wouldn't make money, so what is the alternative, you cannot release them into the wild, they would die of starvation or invade villages and cause untold damage, the "government" in Thailand certainly wouldn't do anything, so what is the solution, humanely destroy the animals in captivity? I think that would cause a world wide uproar, can anyone provide a sensible solution that wouldn't cause suffering or death to these animals, yes you can ban capture of wild elephants but hundreds are born in captivity every year, in fact the majority of elephants now in the venues are born in captivity. So do YOU have a solution to this! it is no use just shouting about how bad it is until you come up with an alternative

There is a huge problem with elephants that were used for work that's no longer appropriate for them. The problem is, to feed the demand for these tourist traps, many are being taken out of the wilds in neighboring countries and brought here illegally. Normally babies, which means the mother was probably killed so they could get to the baby. Stop the shows and this poaching will also stop. But yes, you now have the problem of what to do with all the ones that are here now.

As an FYI, I read that riding elephants is really bad for their backs. They are not designed for this. Something I hadn't known. So whatever is done, riding should be stopped....as show all these silly elephant shows.

Not sure how old that video is, but if you go to the largest elephant camp in Thailand, the Mae Sa camp north of Chiang Mai, or visit the other larger camps up around the Mae Tang, you will not see any such abuse and you will be informed that the elephants breed within the camps and are not captured in the wild. Of course if you go to the elephant camps on the islands down south where there are no traditional elephant stomping grounds and no traditional elephant peoples such as the Karen or the Suai you are bound to be more disappointed.

If elephants are ridden or used in shows, they are abused. You can not domesticate elephants. They are, and always will be, wild animals. To make them perform, they are tortured. I'll try to find the pics, but at one where they were painting, you could see the mahout holding a nail in his hand and pressing it into the elephants ear to get it to paint. Hard to see, but that's how they get them to do these activities that are not normal for them to do.

[Fairynuff]

Whilst I agree about the abuse of these magnificent beasts being horrific have you considered the alternative, these animals cost a fortune to feed, if there was a boycott on them by tourists what would happen to all these animals, they certainly wouldn't keep them because they wouldn't make money, so what is the alternative, you cannot release them into the wild, they would die of starvation or invade villages and cause untold damage, the "government" in Thailand certainly wouldn't do anything, so what is the solution, humanely destroy the animals in captivity? I think that would cause a world wide uproar, can anyone provide a sensible solution that wouldn't cause suffering or death to these animals, yes you can ban capture of wild elephants but hundreds are born in captivity every year, in fact the majority of elephants now in the venues are born in captivity. So do YOU have a solution to this! it is no use just shouting about how bad it is until you come up with an

alternative

Rehabilitation

[JMWPACIFIC]

Thank you for the video of the elephants, they are beautiful

majestic animals but i couldn't watch the cruelty.

Another .org that demonstrates the ethical treatment of elephants (and rides on them are forbidden and no hooks are used by the dedicated mahouts) is www.elephantnature park.org north of Chiang Mai. It is well worth a visit to see the good work of this organization.