Miniature elephant or mammoth scam?
As proud as I am of my cheesy headlines I thought I'd better leave this one intact, I saw it in the web version of the Phuket Gazette but anything I could come up with would have been a variation on the theme so, for once, I'll leave it to the pro's.
I had read about the Nam Chang before, though I cannot remember where - perhaps in Karel van Loon's excellent 'coming of age in Burma' novel "The Invisible Ones" - a highly recommended read even if it doesn't contain the mythical water elephant, there is one elephant makes a cameo as I remember.
I love the way the Gazette took the time to talk to Dr Sittidet at the TECC and get a quote on the Water Elephant, though I note he gave it short shrift. I'll be seeing him tomorrow so I might take him to task for his lack of imagination in entertaining romantic notions, though I fear he may have a point and he is a bit of an expert on eles so I might do well to listen.
That said, if anyone knows better, has read of, or has seen a Nam Chang I might be able to find 5M baht (don't tell Aoy or my boss) but I'd have to see it first and Khun Chinnakid, my accountant at Anantara, would require three quotes to ensure a fair price as I've a feeling it would come out of my capital expenditure budget!
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TAK: Taking a break from bashing his cousins in the Karen National Union, a sergeant major from the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) reportedly crossed the Thai border recently with an unusual piece of merchandise, one he came to hawking at an extraordinary price.
Sgt Maj Tinai, from the DKBA 999 Division, claimed to be in possession of none other than a chang nam, or water elephant, which he was trying to sell for 5 million baht in Tak's Mae Sot District.
Water elephants, at only a few inches long, are much smaller than their land-living cousins. This particular specimen had a trunk, tusks and all four legs, said Sombat Phimpha, Headman of Wang Takinag village, who claimed had met the Burmese soldier.
K. Sombat said that the chang nam was five centimeters long and was caught in a pond near Ko Sae Ni village in Myanmar's Karen State. The forest surrounding the pond was devoid of all wildlife as all animals, big or small, are afraid of the power of the chang nam, he said.
The specimen brought by Sgt Maj Tinai died seven days after its capture. After its demise, villagers lightly grilled it to prevent it from rotting, K. Sombat explained.
"The villagers who found the chang nam gave it to the Karen Buddhist soldier to sell for them over the border.
They knew Thais would be interested in buying chang nam, as they believe that whoever has one in their possession will have money pouring in and will know no danger, only happiness," he said.
This is not the first time Mae Sot has hit the news for its chang nam. In May 2003, a restaurant owner in the district achieved local fame when he claimed to have bought one from a Burmese man.
His specimen was 7.5cm tall, 12.5 cm long and had all the features that one would expect to find on a fully-formed elephant. Before it died, again seven days after being captured, it had trumpeted like a full-size elephant, the owner claimed.
Unfortunately, the owner was so worried about the security of his precious possession that he refused to let anyone see it.
Sitthidech Mahawongsakul, Acting Head of the National Elephant Institute's elephant hospital in Lampang, said that he had never come across a "mini elephant" such as the villagers were claiming to have seen. He dismissed reports of chang nam as a hoax.
"There's no such thing as water elephants," declared Chisanu Tiyacharoen, Deputy Chairman of the Wild Animal Rescue Foundation of Thailand.
He challenged anyone who had one to send it in proof, or even just a hair sample, for examination.
If the specimen proved to be a real animal it could be classified. Word of mouth and photos are not enough to prove the existence of water elephants, he said
He then warned people not to believe everything they see.
The report made no mention of whether Sgt Maj Tinai managed to find a buyer for his pricey specimen.
Categories: Book Review, Public Service Broadcast
Have you ever heard of the tiny little Thai Water Elephant? A Cryptozoological dream!
If you read my blog every now and again, you know I am always interested in a good crypto mystery. A while back I was chatting with my children during a visit and the subject of the Thai Water Elephant came up. I had never heard of such a thing, which prompted a research trip to our wonderfully large library where I sifted through and poured over stacks of zoological and scientific journals. I also searched the web and even going through ever nick and cranny of it, my searches proved none to fruitful. Apparently, these little fellows, and I do mean "little", no more than 2 inches tall, are very rare and not much is known about them.
So, here is the product of my searching. Everything that I can tell you about the elusive Thai Water Elephant! Unfortunately, I am unable to post a photograph for you since there are none available. Some mummified skeletons have been found and sold by Thai traders for huge sums to those people that collect rare and obscure finds. Some have sold in the millions but they are a dangerous find. One of the things that make the tiny beasts so rare to find in the first place is that it is said their tiny tusks hold enough poisonous venom to kill an adult, even after they have been dead for some time. A trader or a collector could easily wind up dead if they mishandle their "find".
First, I must state that since there is no living proof of these little guys, just as we have no living proof of Bigfoot or the Jersey Devil or the like, we must say the Thai Water Elephant is, at this time, a legend and that legend is said to have begun in the waterways of the mountain regions of Thailand. It is said that the tiny little elephants live in a pack and spend their time in living in the muddy streams that run through the thickly forested regions where the mud is so dense only their little pointy tusks show above the muddy surface. This is why they are never seen by human eyes and why they are so deadly. It is also why their mummified remains can sometimes be found. The mud serves as a protective shield that hides them and as one to protect and preserve their skin after death so their condition is such that collectors would pay top dollar for them. A person walking through the forest, passing through a muddy stream might well step on one of those pointy tusks and die from the injected venom, thinking they were bitten by a snake or some other venomous creature indigenous to the area.
So, whether or not you take any stock in the theory of the tiny elephants, it seems logical to me. I would love to see one.....they must be awfully cute, poisonous or not!
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