Aviod -warning

[phitsanulok]

You might know already nut if not look here:

http://www.helpthaielephants.com/ (english)

http://www.chuaychangthai.com/index_th.html (thai)

[Little Black Duck]

The stunts these exhibitionists will do to get themselves launched into stardom..

[smartecosse]

seems to work for a lot of them though

[donna]

i think this is a very gross generalisation. i have worked in the tourism industry for over 7 years now in thailand and have visited many elephant camps. very few of them treated their elephants in a bad way, and those who did were reported to the authorities and my company did not visit them again.

before you go promoting PETA and their activities you should think of the alternatives. elephants that were used for logging and who were subsequently 'out of work' after the logging ban could not be put back into the wild because they would have run amok and ruined crops and destroyed property (remember the herd of elephants a few years back who held up the sugar cane trucks near surin?). working with tourists was one of the best ways to keep them active and in work.

for GOOD things happening to elephants, you should perhaps also take a look at the FAE (Friends of the Asian Elephant) hospital in Lampang (who Bridget Bardot - a well known and very vocal conservationist - supports), as well as the Thai Elephant Conservation Centre in Lampang. i have visited these centres on numerous occasions and found them to be caring and loving towards their elephants. my own family has stayed in the homestay here, and i know many volunteers who have worked in the hospitals, all avid animal lovers. they saw nothing to indicate that elephants had been mistreated.

i certainly do not want to get into a slanging match about this and am not saying i am right and you are wrong. i am saying that you should take a look around at some of the organisations who are doing good rather than concentraing on these sensationalist reports from PETA.

[dogblower]

I agree with Donna here: PETA are IMHO the shock troops for the animal welfare movement. As such it serves them to be sensational. More worthy are the ones who just get on with it and see to the animal's welfare. I also don't believe that the elephants working in the tourist industry are grossly mistreated, especially when you consider the alternatives

[Jai Dee]

Patrick Ribbsaeter (L) and Avi Siwa hold a banner encouraging the closure of all zoos at a studio in Bangkok on Friday.

This upcoming advertisement, promoted by the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) will be released early next year in the Philippines, India, Sweden and Thailand, to encourage the ethical treatment of animals in zoos.

Source: The Nation - 22 December 2006