Elephant whisperers

For centuries, elephants have been a crucial part of the lives of the Kui people in the northeastern province of Surin, whose expertise in catching and taming them has been passed on by their ancestors

They are waving their large lotus leaf-like ears, covered with hairy grey skin. Here, they are lifting their long trunks to take in food. There, they are swimming, making trumpeting sounds. Standing tall are the world's largest land mammals - elephants. Their forebears lived in the wilderness before being captured and tamed by morchang, or elephant whisperers.

The Kui people who used to capture and train wild elephants as an occupation have been dwelling in Ban Ta Klang and nearby villages in Tambon Kra Pho, Tha Tum district of Surin, on the Moon River basin. They are the descendants of mahouts who served Siamese armies in many wars and retired after war on elephant back became obsolete following the end of the war in 1826.

Before 1957, when catching wild elephants became illegal, the Kui people mainly caught and trained wild elephants for domestic use and for sale, and farmed seasonally. In the past, they went to forests, mostly in Cambodia, to capture wild elephants every two or three months.

Catching wild elephants.

The Kui would capture wild elephants under the saek pone method by riding their trained elephants to chase and catch wild elephants. They would throw a loop of pakam leather rope around one of each of the wild elephant's legs.

An elephant catching team would consist of kamluangphued (khrubayai), mor sadam, mor sadiang, mor ja and ma, terms which categorise elephant catchers by their experience. Kamluangphued were the most experienced in everything about elephants and had caught at least 10 to 15 wild elephants, followed by mor sadam at six to 10 wild elephants, mor sadiang with one to five wild elephants and, last but not least, mor ja, who had yet to catch a single wild elephant. Ma (mahouts) would just assist and sit behind elephant catchers on elephant back. Ma have never taken part in the pachi ritual, a rite of passage for morchang, or elephant catcher.

"Men aged 14 and up can become morchang. I dreamed of becoming morchang since I was young. It has run in my family for centuries, since my ancestors' time. Our Kui tribe has been living here for generations," Meu Sala-ngam, a 81-year-old mor sadam at Ban Ta Klang, said.

Uncle Meu was born at Ban Ta Klang in 1928. He is a Kui a-jiang (Kui elephant raiser). At 11, he started learning the science of controlling elephants from khrubayai Kaew Suksri and Thao Sala-ngam. He worked hard as a ma (mahout) and accompanied his teachers to catch wild elephants. At the age of 20, he entered the rite of passage (pachi) to become morchang and began leading a caravan to capture wild elephants in Cambodian forests along the Phanom Dongrak Range two or three times a year. He tamed and trained the captured wild elephants and selected good ones to become breeders. At 25, he was appointed mor sadam. Currently, he is highly respected as the only surviving khrubayai. He is a moral man who excels in the art of capturing, taming, training, healing and selecting elephants. He has taken part in over 40 elephant catching trips and himself captured 16 wild elephants.

For all Kui male teens, elephant catching was a big test for them to become men. Pending training, they would only be ma (mahouts) and had to be strictly obedient to kamluangphued and other morchang. The captured wild elephants were like diplomas to prove their bravery and elevate their social status.

"Since I was born, I have seen elephants all around me. I've been with them since I was a boy," Uncle Meu said about his close bond with elephants.

For generations, the Kui people here have been taught to respect the rule of nature and elephants. Respecting elephants is equal to worshipping the pakam shrines and progenitors. To them, elephants are family.

"Starting from age 14, we learned how to handle elephants. We learned by ourselves. We memorised the elders' words without writing anything down," he said.

Giving offerings to the ‘sarn pakam’, or shrine.

Then he recalled the first time he caught a wild elephant.

"I accompanied my father and was able to catch an elephant right away. It's easy if we have talent. I just used a lasso and a pakam leather rope. No need to lure elephants with anything. Any wild elephants would run away and we would just throw a loop of rope around one of their legs and then chase them," the man added.

Prior to elephant catching, morchang need to perform blessing rituals.

"Before departing, we would figure out auspicious times for giving offerings to the sarn pakam (shrine) and start the trip. It took three days to prepare for a trip to Cambodian forests and over 10 days to travel," Uncle Meu said.

During each trip, morchang and their families would have to strictly abide by the rules and taboos. For example, morchang must not throw hooks or ride newly caught elephants. Sitting on staircases or by windows, using brooms or throwing things out of their houses are forbidden; otherwise, morchang will fall from the backs of the elephants.

"In the past, there were a lot of wild elephants. Each herd usually numbered 50 to 60. Catching an elephant required two men and about five minutes by just throwing a loop of rope. Both morchang and elephants were watchful. We couldn't make mistakes or be too choosy. Sometimes we got seven elephants, sometimes only one or none," he added.

According to him, becoming a good morchang requires over 10 years of experience.

"Anyone wants to get good elephants, but we couldn't be choosy. A good elephant has lotus leaf-like ears, banana trunk-like legs, a beautiful straight tail and a big trunk," Uncle Meu said.

After returning to their village, morchang performed the sen phi pakam ritual again. A blessing ceremony and a celebration for the newly caught pachyderms followed.

Morchang sold some of those elephants and kept some to work and ride to capture more wild elephants.

According to Uncle Meu, no magical spells are needed to train elephants. What morchang do is just teach elephants like students, comfort them and pat their necks. Whenever they do wrong, they will be told not to do it again. If necessary, they may be hit softly.

"Elephants possess different personalities like humans. They are either kind or mean. However, training elephants is easier than teaching humans," he noted.

Seventy-seven-year-old Ya Sala-ngam, a mor sadiang, recalled that this tambon used to have hundreds of elephant catchers who were from every family here because the Kui people know the nature of elephants very well.

"Men raise elephants while women weave silk," he said. "There are no new morchang because catching wild elephants is illegal."

The last time Uncle Ya captured a wild elephant was in 1957. Now there are only five kui morchang left in Thailand.

Uncle Meu added that: "I feel sorry [about the end of this ancient occupation]. What I can do is to pass on the knowledge to my offspring. Now, they know a lot about elephants, but have no chance to go catch wild elephants."

Despite no more elephant catching, morchang have been using their skills to educate the general public at Elephant Village and help ill elephants.

Uncle Meu is occasionally asked to lead other morchang to capture ailing wild elephants in the forests so that authorities can send the pachyderms to hospital. His team has been to the woods in Kanchanaburi, Chachoengsao and Prachuap Khiri Khan for such missions.

"Only two of us, Uncle Ma [a mor ja] and I, went into the jungle and were able to catch that ill elephant in one day. We threw a loop of rope around his neck instead of his leg because he's crippled," Uncle Meu said about his trip in Prachuap Khiri Khan.

At present, Uncle Meu has six elephants of his own. Unlike many other elephant owners, he never takes his elephants to Bangkok or big cities to beg for money. However, he leases his elephants to tour operators in Pattaya and Chiang Rai.

"Poverty forces elephant owners out of their hometowns. Elephants can help their owners earn small incomes. Last year, the rice fields here were damaged by floods, so many elephant owners had to take elephants to the big cities. It's dangerous, but they try hard to avoid accidents," he said.

According to a research paper from the Senate Sub-committee on Natural Research, An Extensive Study on Solving Problems of Domesticated and Wild Elephants in Thailand, unemployment, as a result of the ban on logging since 1987, has led to a new approach for elephant owners to earn their living. Many elephants have been roaming into the cities. They have been in poor health due to the chaotic environment and pollution. Some of them were hit by cars, plunged into open holes or suffered from heat stroke.

Now this type of roaming has declined and a new problem has emerged. Calved elephants are forced to perform in circuses. Some of them are caught from the jungle after poachers kill the elephant cows. There is also the problem where elephants are fed with amphetamines and forced to serve illegal logging or illicit businesses.

Currently, Surin has approximately 560 elephants and neighbouring Buri Ram province has 150. Of these, 140 are participating in the Surin Provincial Administration Organisation and the Zoological Organisation's "Elephants Return Home" programme. On a 2,000-rai (320 hectare) land plot at Elephant Village, Surin, the elephant owners grow crops to feed their pachyderms and receive a monthly subsidy of 8,000 baht per head. In return, their elephants must perform in educational and entertaining programmes at the village.

According to a report by the Elephant Village, 343 other elephants from Surin and Buri Ram are being hired at elephant centres nationwide. Another 106 pachyderms are roaming in Bangkok and big cities, and 117 are wandering upcountry.

Under a Sept 9, 2009 cabinet resolution, a budget of 22 million baht was approved to run the Elephants Return Home project. Moreover, all 3,825 home elephants in Thailand must be registered within two years and the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry must set up a problem-solving panel and speed up issuance of the Elephant Act.

Surin Governor Wichian Chavalit said two major problems relating to elephants in general are unemployment for mahouts and food shortages for elephants.

To end the plight, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration is running the Chang Yim (smiley elephants) Project to send all the roaming elephants back home by July this year and to realise sustainable happy living.

Bangkok Governor MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra said, "Elephants are the national symbol. They are clever, sensitive and need special care. Our objective is to conserve Thai elephants."

His deputy, Teerachon Manomaipiboon, promised to seek a budget of 100 million baht to construct living quarters for the elephants and their owners at the Elephant Village and to promote the growth of elephant feeds. "The elephant owners can also operate home-stay businesses to attract tourists and raise incomes. Within three years, they should be able to earn enough money and live happy lives," he noted.

Uncle Meu, the respected morchang, agreed that the best solution is to encourage the elephant owners to return home along with their pets. He also urged the implementation of more similar projects to help elephants.

"At this elephant centre, life is easy and fun. No one wants to go to Bangkok," he said, "We can't live without elephants. Without them, we can't be happy."