lucky things not only for being able to watch the incomparable Mr Varun Sharma ride the equally incomparable Yuki << MORE >>

I am often asked whether we treat our mahouts too well? There is a great perception there in the outside world that perhaps we've gone a step or two too far in cosseting our elephant owning friends by not only catering to the every whim of their elephants but by covering enough of their living costs that they are seen to have the same level disposable income that, for instance, a normal hotel employee would have<< MORE >>

Shot entirely in Siam (present-day Thailand), Schoedsack and Cooper's thrilling adventure is clearly the prototype for their later masterpiece KING KONG - and a spellbinding success in its own right. The publicity of the time touted a cast of 500 native hunters, 400 elephants, tigers, leopards, pythons, and other denizens of the wild! Chang is a simple story of one family's survival on their small farm on the edge of the jungle - a way of life that often pits them against forces of nature. The film was nominated (along with Murnau's SUNRISE and Vidor's THE CROWD) for "Artistic Quality of Production" at the first ever Academy Awards. << MORE >>

But we know from a thousand years of anecdotes that eles have a good memory and can hold a grudge as well as a candle. So at times like this when I've got a couple of bags of sunflower seeds in my office which I go out and feed to the eles a handful at a time, how careful do I need to be not to slip an extra handful to the eyelid flashing favourite of today?<< MORE >>

Apparently outrage was caused the other week when a park management somewhere in Africa failed to interfere with nature for the sake of just one beast, spotted in assumed pain on a webcam - though those that caused the outrage got their diagnosis wrong, the animal was not in pain through giving birth in her old age but through constipation bought about by not being able to properly chew food, eventually the animal died having successfully deposited her juvenile calf with the herd.<< MORE >>

...before she appealed to us to come and live here Pumpui's Mum, K. Varunee, was part of the one of the extended families whose elephants were chosen to go to Taronga Zoo in Sydney, being the most photogenic she was chosen to take part in a story culminating in the birth of Luk Chai - the first ele to be born in Sydney from Artificial Insemination.<< MORE >>

Having been married to Garry 'the sun king' Billings for forty years and accompanied by him on several of her elephant expeditions June contacted us some time ago to request a surprise party to celebrate this and we thought, where better than the elephant camp? We're not very good at keeping secrets but, well, we'll try. << MORE >>

Thai drama at its best, all acted as though for a stage audience and in crystal clear Bangkok Thai. It is not necessarily the best pointer for a young foreigner trying to find his way in the country (argue with the best looking girl until she falls in love with you, avoid men with moustaches, always listen to the old guy and don't follow the old lady - unless she's poor, or at least pretending to be) but it is a good way to practice the sort of Thai to use when you have to go for meetings in Bangkok.<< MORE >>

One of the questions that I am most frequently asked, a question that has me scratching my head, is "You do a great job here, does the Government give you any funding?". I cough a little and furrow my brow, say thanks for the compliment but never really understand why the Government would fund a private enterprise, or even a Thai registered foundation - yes, our goals may be broadly similar but I've never heard of Governments financially supporting N.G.O's.<< MORE >>

Luckily we always have half an eye on the bigger picture, the Mark III in this case, was never really designed just for our little valley - yes it will give a few eles a chance to run around, cause chaos and create unwanted wallows when our grassland floods again, as it surely will; but the plan has always been to finalise a design on this relatively small scale that could be extended around a larger plot of land, wherever, whenever, whoever this becomes possible.<< MORE >>