You give what? to who? for why? (or why we support the Thai Elephant Conservation Centre).
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.
In fact, in our case, through the King's Cup Elephant Polo tournament held each year, it is often the other way around - but when I say as much it is the turn of my friendly guest or journalist to furrow their brow and ask why a struggling little enterprise which (by the dirt 'neath my nails and the holes in my jeans) is obviously working from month to month just to keep our eles and mahouts in the style to which they've become accustomed. Why would we be giving that hard earned cash (& don't believe anyone who tells you that just because most of the money is donated in a charity auction it is not hard earned, not only is a charitable auction incredibly hard to organise, it is not unfair to say that to get those donors into that position takes the entire management staff of the hotel plus a few die-hard outside supporters three to six month's dedicated work along with the investment of millions of baht - not to mention the organisation of twenty elephants off the streets and just a little sweat from my aging limbs) to a Government institution?
Well, the initial answer to that is easy, it is our stated intention to help all the elephants in Thailand and we believe that, as well as looking after our few in such a way as to set up a blue-print that can be copied elsewhere, the Government, in particular the Thai Elephant Conservation Centre (in the North) are in an incredible position to do that.
But then people go and visit, scratch the surface a little bit, slide between the gates and go to Lampang and what do they find? Well, on initial inspection, they see a largely commercial operation with an entrance fee, an elephant show, everything for sale all the time - it looks just like all the other elephant camps in Thailand, they're all businesses, why would this be any different?
Well, two reasons...
The first will be familiar, in a way far deeper than we have ever tried here, the T.E.C.C. have recognised that Thai elephants, if they are to survive in domesticity will have to make money in order to keep themselves fed and have dedicated themselves to finding safe, sustainable ways of doing this that will appeal to all markets; remember all the alternatives to 'elephant trekking' you've heard about from camps with different P.R. approaches or seen on the internet? You can probably bet they originated at the T.E.C.C. - our very own mahout training course started with them, the first folks to do it; elephant dung paper? yep, first in the world; elephant painting? years before that video went viral you could buy conceptual art from the budding pachyderm Piccassos of Lampang; elephant orchestra? well, not many people doing that yet but still they've featured on some high powered movie scores and have three CD's under their belt - just about any idea you can think of that is now seen with a 'wow' on the internet or a blog, if it safe for elephants and can earn a mahout (or a business) extra money giving the ele an extra hour off, it was probably pioneered and trialled at the T.E.C.C. It may have been tuned and tweaked elsewhere but the idea was probably from there.
The second reason, the stuff you don't see - the hospital is pretty visible and gives free care to any Thai elephant but you don't see the research that goes on; the mobile veterinary clinic that will come to any elephant that is not in need of hospital treatment but still needs a vet; you don't see the musth control team that can come out at the drop of a hat, free of charge, highly trained, highly skilled crack mahouts who'll come and sedate your out of control musth bull (eh Phu Khi!) who would, in previous years, been in danger not only of hurting folks but of catching a bullet rather than a dart of sedative; it is possible to miss the Elephant and Mahout Training college which researches and offers new elephant training methods away from the brutal ones practiced in the old days, teaches new mahouts and old hands new ways of looking after the elephants; unless you sweep the internet you don't get to see the publications in Thai and in English that come out of the T.E.C.C's typewriters on elephant care, history and everything in between and finally (but not comprehensively, these are just the things I can think of from the top of my head and there's plenty that I don't know about), the thing that gave us the idea to come down here and write this blog, the Pang La Sanctuary for disabled, elderly and dangerous elephants - operating quietly for over 30 years now without an official opening or any way of turning a dime.
All of this extra stuff costs money over and above keeping and feeding the eighty odd elephants under their care and this is why, when the management system have a project that needs supporting - we're currently working with their Thai Elephant Therapy Project to train already domesticated Thai elephants (preferably ex-street eles) to work with Autistic children they can come to us and to the King's Cup Elephant Polo with a proposal for equipment or for specific funding and, if we can see it will be good for all Thai eles in the long run, there's a good chance we'll put our noses to the grindstone and try to raise some cash, and over the years, with the help of our sponsors, we haven't done badly...
...over the last few weeks we've had reason to visit a few times and a few facilities, so I thought I'd take a few photos of the more visible things the King's Cup has given in order to help this work.
Mahout housing at the hospital, so not only can elephants come and get free care, the mahouts can now stay with their eles.
...a few years ago we scraped together enough shekels for three pick-ups, now seen moving staff and fodder between the Lampang sites...
...the dedicated elephant ambulance travels all over the country to help sick elephants come to the centre and can also double as purely a well designed elephant transport truck.
...and with the money from the 2009 tournament we've agreed to help the Thai Elephant Therapy Project, five elephants have been off the streets and under training at the T.E.C.C. for three months already, the research is due to begin in earnest next March.
In fact, in our case, through the King's Cup Elephant Polo tournament held each year, it is often the other way around - but when I say as much it is the turn of my friendly guest or journalist to furrow their brow and ask why a struggling little enterprise which (by the dirt 'neath my nails and the holes in my jeans) is obviously working from month to month just to keep our eles and mahouts in the style to which they've become accustomed. Why would we be giving that hard earned cash (& don't believe anyone who tells you that just because most of the money is donated in a charity auction it is not hard earned, not only is a charitable auction incredibly hard to organise, it is not unfair to say that to get those donors into that position takes the entire management staff of the hotel plus a few die-hard outside supporters three to six month's dedicated work along with the investment of millions of baht - not to mention the organisation of twenty elephants off the streets and just a little sweat from my aging limbs) to a Government institution?
Well, the initial answer to that is easy, it is our stated intention to help all the elephants in Thailand and we believe that, as well as looking after our few in such a way as to set up a blue-print that can be copied elsewhere, the Government, in particular the Thai Elephant Conservation Centre (in the North) are in an incredible position to do that.
But then people go and visit, scratch the surface a little bit, slide between the gates and go to Lampang and what do they find? Well, on initial inspection, they see a largely commercial operation with an entrance fee, an elephant show, everything for sale all the time - it looks just like all the other elephant camps in Thailand, they're all businesses, why would this be any different?
Well, two reasons...
The first will be familiar, in a way far deeper than we have ever tried here, the T.E.C.C. have recognised that Thai elephants, if they are to survive in domesticity will have to make money in order to keep themselves fed and have dedicated themselves to finding safe, sustainable ways of doing this that will appeal to all markets; remember all the alternatives to 'elephant trekking' you've heard about from camps with different P.R. approaches or seen on the internet? You can probably bet they originated at the T.E.C.C. - our very own mahout training course started with them, the first folks to do it; elephant dung paper? yep, first in the world; elephant painting? years before that video went viral you could buy conceptual art from the budding pachyderm Piccassos of Lampang; elephant orchestra? well, not many people doing that yet but still they've featured on some high powered movie scores and have three CD's under their belt - just about any idea you can think of that is now seen with a 'wow' on the internet or a blog, if it safe for elephants and can earn a mahout (or a business) extra money giving the ele an extra hour off, it was probably pioneered and trialled at the T.E.C.C. It may have been tuned and tweaked elsewhere but the idea was probably from there.
The second reason, the stuff you don't see - the hospital is pretty visible and gives free care to any Thai elephant but you don't see the research that goes on; the mobile veterinary clinic that will come to any elephant that is not in need of hospital treatment but still needs a vet; you don't see the musth control team that can come out at the drop of a hat, free of charge, highly trained, highly skilled crack mahouts who'll come and sedate your out of control musth bull (eh Phu Khi!) who would, in previous years, been in danger not only of hurting folks but of catching a bullet rather than a dart of sedative; it is possible to miss the Elephant and Mahout Training college which researches and offers new elephant training methods away from the brutal ones practiced in the old days, teaches new mahouts and old hands new ways of looking after the elephants; unless you sweep the internet you don't get to see the publications in Thai and in English that come out of the T.E.C.C's typewriters on elephant care, history and everything in between and finally (but not comprehensively, these are just the things I can think of from the top of my head and there's plenty that I don't know about), the thing that gave us the idea to come down here and write this blog, the Pang La Sanctuary for disabled, elderly and dangerous elephants - operating quietly for over 30 years now without an official opening or any way of turning a dime.
All of this extra stuff costs money over and above keeping and feeding the eighty odd elephants under their care and this is why, when the management system have a project that needs supporting - we're currently working with their Thai Elephant Therapy Project to train already domesticated Thai elephants (preferably ex-street eles) to work with Autistic children they can come to us and to the King's Cup Elephant Polo with a proposal for equipment or for specific funding and, if we can see it will be good for all Thai eles in the long run, there's a good chance we'll put our noses to the grindstone and try to raise some cash, and over the years, with the help of our sponsors, we haven't done badly...
...over the last few weeks we've had reason to visit a few times and a few facilities, so I thought I'd take a few photos of the more visible things the King's Cup has given in order to help this work.
Mahout housing at the hospital, so not only can elephants come and get free care, the mahouts can now stay with their eles.
...a few years ago we scraped together enough shekels for three pick-ups, now seen moving staff and fodder between the Lampang sites...
...the dedicated elephant ambulance travels all over the country to help sick elephants come to the centre and can also double as purely a well designed elephant transport truck.
...and with the money from the 2009 tournament we've agreed to help the Thai Elephant Therapy Project, five elephants have been off the streets and under training at the T.E.C.C. for three months already, the research is due to begin in earnest next March.
Posted by John Roberts at Wed, 11 Nov 2009 07:57:00 GMT 
Categories: Thailand Elephants
Tags: Thai Elephant Conservation Centre King's Cup Elephant polo donations in kind
Categories: Thailand Elephants
Tags: Thai Elephant Conservation Centre King's Cup Elephant polo donations in kind
First elephant nursing home set up
Shelter taking care of aged, disabled jumbos
Published: 20/10/2009 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: News
The country's first nursing home for aged elephants and jumbos with disabilities has been set up in Lampang.
The new shelter would take care of the elephants "until their last breath", said Manoonsak Tantiwiwat, chief of the Forest Industry Organisation, which runs the shelter in Ngao district.
The Pang-La Nursery Home for Aged Elephants on 1,000 rai will be opened officially on Nov 21. The FIO operates the project in honour of Their Majesties the King and the Queen, Mr Manoonsak said. Their Majesties are dedicated environmentalists who have initiated several projects to help conserve forests and wildlife.
The shelter is staffed with veterinarians and a group of experienced mahouts. It also grows a variety of elephant food sources such as grass, banana trees, pineapple trees and traditional herbs to improve the elephants' health.
There is also a small river for them.
"We have about 30 old and disabled elephants at the shelter," Mr Manoonsak said. Among them are Pang Bua-Kam, a 53-year-old female elephant blind in one eye, which was rescued from the streets of Bangkok a few months ago, and Plai Kam-Meun, a 72-year-old blind elephant from Mae Hong Son.
The shelter could take care of up to 200 elephants, he said.
Apart from running the camp for elderly elephants, the FIO has been working with veterinarians from five universities, the Livestock Development and the National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation departments on a new project to conduct DNA testing of all captive elephants in Thailand.
DNA records will help distinguish captive elephants from wild animals.
"We have already issued ID cards for captive elephants, but the card is very easy to forge. So we need DNA records to identify them," said Sitthidej Mahasawangkul, director of the Lampang-based Elephant Hospital.
More than 100 elephants have undergone DNA testing so far, he said. The veterinary team is expected to complete the DNA identification project within four years.
"Once the DNA records of captive elephants are complete, the authorities will be able to effectively tackle the problem of wild elephant poaching," Mr Sitthidej said.
A number of young elephants have been caught in the wild and disguised as captive elephants.
It is estimated that more than 2,000 of the elephants living in Thailand are captive. Another 2,000 are wild.
The country's elephant population falls by about 3% a year.
The FIO in the past took care of elephants used to haul logs. After logging concessions ended, it switched to work on elephant conservation.
It now takes care of more than 300 beasts with a budget of more than 100 million baht a year.
The agency also plans next year to set up an elephant hospital in the southern province of Krabi.
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