Day 1!!

Our first day was spent at the Elephant Nature Park (ENP) where we walked around the park and saw many elephants, feeding them along the way. We learned about the background of the elephants and the conditions in which they are living in now in the park. In particular, we learned about how the elephants had been mistreated in other camps, and one elephant was blind because her mahout had stabbed her in the eye as punishment. Another elephant had difficulty walking because it had stepped on a land-mine and had part of its leg blown off. There were a few elephants that were afraid of humans, most likely due to past trauma of being abused by their mahouts.

Even though I had already about how elephants were abused in camps before the trip, actually seeing them injured really struck a chord with me. I was thus really inspired by how ENP has helped rehabilitate the elephants and treated them with dignity and respect, rather than exploiting them for monetary gains by using them to entertain tourists. Unlike many other camps that train the elephants to be ridden or perform tricks such as painting or kicking a soccer ball, this park was all about walking with the elephants and learning about their stories, rather than using them for entertainment.

I also had the impression that the mahouts were stoic, assertive trainers who needed a firm hand to handle the elephants. However, most of them turned out to be rather passive individuals, who spent most of their time walking alone with the elephants and feeding them. That’s when Jen (our tour guide) said something that really left an impression on me – the mahouts are often not to blame for the mistreatment of the elephant. Many of them come from Myanmar in search of a job, and have no choice but to mistreat the elephants in order to train them in accordance to the owners’ wishes. And they often have to resort to such mistreatment because they have not been properly trained to handle the elephants. In fact, one would even expect that Jen, having seen so many elephants abused under the hands of their mahouts, to naturally feel anger for them, but instead he chose to be understanding. Perhaps most people have compassion in them, but the rule of capitalism is often too great to overcome.

Other than hearing from Jen about the elephants, we also learned about his story and his motivations for working in the park – how much he has come to love elephants and his passion for helping them. As he was answering our questions for our research, he kept reminding us to help spread the word about the park and its ethical practices. His spirit really spurred me to want to do more with our project and educate others on the good work ENP is doing, and how we can provide better treatment for elephants, rather than use them for our own pleasure.

One thing I also found really interesting was the fact that Jen mentioned graduating from Chiang Mai University. It made me think about the differences between the mind-sets of Singaporeans and the Thai; finding a job as a tour guide after graduating from university would probably seem unfathomable for most of us. We all expect, as graduates, to find a stable, good-paying job in a respected firm. But Jen? He just loves being with the elephants – he knows all of them by name and all their stories. And how wonderful it must be to have a passion and what more be able to find passion in a job. It made me think about my passion and my future career – will I really follow through with my ambition of working in events, and then becoming a social worker after I have gained more life experience?

I don’t know, of course – I don’t even know what’s going to happen tomorrow. But one thing’s for sure, is that I had a lot of fun learning about elephants today! Ride an elephant? Not checked, and probably never will be anymore. Had an amazing first day in Chiang Mai? Definitely checked.