Sometimes the simplest of ideas have an amazing symmetry, sometimes that symmetry only becomes apparent after the idea has become a reality.

Not being one to sit on vast reserves of other people's money, or elephant's money for that matter - in my mind donated funds belong to the elephants, but the method of spending belongs to the donor - we were left with a Foundation conundrum when the T.E.C.C. eles went home.

Since she retired in June Pang Yom has been drawing her pension from the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation but the T.E.C.C. made it very clear that they look after their own and that they did not need our help to look after her once she was in Lampang.

So what to do with Yom's pension?  The thought struck me that we could try to employ a vet, one thing our camp lacks is any real veterinary experience - basic and haphazard first aid (and some clever herbal medicine) is about as far as we go.  But a vet up here with our well fed, well forested elephants?  Well they're so rarely sick so the vet'd go mad after about a week....

...then why can't they spend a week a month with us and then go and help out in Lampang at the hospital, or with the mobile clinic or the musth control team for the other three?  Then we'd really be doing some good for all of Thailand's elephants.

Why not take it a step further?  Why not employ a newly qualified vet, after all our eles' sprains, skin, eye and ear infections don't need a great deal of experience - just someone to make sure our medicine chest is properly stocked and to train us in the repetitive behaviour of keeping all clean.  Besides, if something big does go wrong then we can always call on the T.E.C.C.'s vast experience, as we would anyway, with the advantage of having a vet who knows our eles.

So that's what we did, we found newly qualified vet in Dr. Pongpon 'Pep' Homkong fresh from the Chiang Mai University Wildlife Veterinary course - a man with a love of elephants and a determination to specialise in them. 

I hope to keep you up to date with his progress though I doubt he'll do much exciting here I'm hoping his T.E.C.C. weeks will provide adventure and, naturally, I might have to go and photograph some of the more adventurous stuff, just to make sure he is doing us proud - you understand.



Oi took the photo today during his familiarisation with our activities, she seems to have been focusing on Yui the ele as opposed the man, which is appropriate I suppose, but I hope there will be more photos to come as the week, then the year, progresses.

The symmetry of it all is in the idea that one reason Yom is going home is to be close to the hospital as she gets older and one of the vets there for three quarters of the time will be sponsored using what was her pension - we may yet have a hand in giving her the comfortable retirement she deserves.

The plan is for Mor (Thai for Dr.) Pep to stay with us for a year and then either take a job with the T.E.C.C, specialise in elephants elsewhere or become a Government District vet in any locality - one problem the street elephants face (& Tawan's limp may be part of this) is that the District vets don't generally have any ele experience, so when an accident does happen out there and the vet is called the poor ele ends up having to wait until an ele specialist can be found.  If we can start a trend of giving the Local District vets some ele experience...

Next year we'll find another eager graduate, help them earn their ele wings and hopefully have some fun along the way.  That said, one other thing about beautifully symmetric, unplanned ideas is that they have a habit of changing with time!