In Their Old Age They Turn Pink

On an elephant tour in northern Thailand

by Geraldine Friedrich and photos by Alexander Volkmanns
from Rhine-Neckar Newspaper Magazine Saturday/Sunday, 12/13 August 2006

Wash day in the jungle: The lady elephant Pang Lawan lets her mahout scrub her back.

In old age, humans turn grey. But the anthracite-colored skin graces elephants only in their youth: when they get old they turn pink. We have John Roberts, 32, to thank for this insight. The Briton takes care of the elephant camp for the luxury resort Anantara in the Golden Triangle, Northern Thailand. Hotel guests can ride Indian elephants there, going one or two cautious rounds in the courtyard of the camp, or right into the jungle for the brave.

The hotel complex lies 13 kilometers from the city of Chiang Saen, on a hill at the edge of the jungle. From there the elephant camp can be reached in about ten minutes by foot. On the way there, we pass the fruit and vegetable gardens and rice fields belonging to the hotel. Arriving at the camp, we find a collection of very simple stalls built out of bamboo. It is the middle of June and the rainy season is just beginning. The air is hot and humid, and t-shirts are sticky. The ground is muddy and the elephants’ pool is filled up. “Would anyone like to go swimming with the elephants?” asks John. We are not interested.

Elephant trekking – it sounds at first rather like a combination of cheap carnival pleasure and tourist trap. However, the necessity of feeding and caring for the animals speaks for the attraction. The elephants in the camp are namely unemployed domestic working animals which Anantara has purchased, or which belong to the state and live there. For centuries Thais as mahouts – a mix of elephant trainer and keeper – have trained elephants to be working animals. With their help they transported cut tree trunks, especially teak wood, from the forests. In wars the animals even served as weapons. There are still about 3000 tamed working elephants in Thailand; 50 years ago, though, there were more than 13,000. The estimated number of wild elephants is around 2000 animals; the assumption is that they will be exterminated in 30 to 40 years without further protective measures.

Let’s cuddle! Elephants can be very affectionate with one another.

In 1989, for reasons of nature conservation, Thailand prohibited tree felling for commercial purposes. This is good for preservation of the forests; but the prohibition robs most of the elephants and their owners of their means of existence. Because an elephant eats between ten and twenty percent of its body weight each day – for a mature animal of 3500 to 5000 kilos, easily 500 kilograms of food – many owners could and can no longer feed their animals. In Anantara alone, the elephants eat about 500 banana bunches, 2000 sugar canes, and a wagon load of pineapple each week. At the moment the camp has four adult working elephants, three young ones, one mother with a three-month old baby, and a 61-year-old, manifestly pink-colored retiree, who according to John is very social. Thus humans and elephants are not so very different. “Some are extremely social, some prefer to be alone, some talk a lot, and others only a little,” John explains to us. Elephants get nervous around quick movement, so people should approach them slowly.

John introduces us to the elephants and their stories. For example, that one is Plai Tawan, about three years old, who probably was separated too early from his mother, especially when one considers that an elephant year is about the same as a human year. The little one came to the camp directly from the elephant hospital in Chiang Mai. He had been hit by a car. His owner did not want to sell him at first, as a lame elephant is good for begging; but for 255,000 baht (a good 5000 Euros) he decided it wouldn’t be quite so bad to sell. In comparison to African elephants, Asian elephants (including the Indian) are smaller. They have smaller ears, two nostrils instead of one, two protuberances on the forehead, and their back is the highest point on their bodies. The females have no tusks, and in the males these break off easily. “There must have been a rat between the African and the Indian elephant,” says John, expressing his personal theory of evolution.

“My” elephant is called Pang Lawan. First I must clamber up her three-meter high neck. At her mahout’s command “Song soong,” (original elephant commands can be heard on the home page www.helpingelephants.org) she lifts her right front foot like a flamingo so that I can use her insole as a step for my right foot. Then I hold tight with my right hand to her right ear, pull myself up with the left hand on a fastened cord, and swing my left leg over her back. Those who can’t do it alone get a shove up from below.

I’m on top. From below it didn’t look especially high. From up here, it’s a whole new perspective, and one’s own height – as in high diving – adds to it. It’s wobbly and I think of my bicycle helmet that I wear for every ride at home. A friend said goodbye to me with the words that she was more worried that I would fall off an elephant than crash in the airplane. There are now three meters between me and the ground, and I discover she was right. So that this won’t happen, the mahout instructs me to sit far forward on the neck, with my knees directly behind the elephant’s ears. When she walks, her neck muscles move. This means that with each step I slip a little to the left and a little to the right. It is best when the rider relaxes into the rhythm of the neck muscles. The movement that arises from this is reminiscent of step aerobics.

Pang Lawan offers a cord or the two bumps on her head to hang on to. During our first big lap, a Spanish couple looks on incredulously as we – three Germans on three elephants – ride nonchalantly past, back to the hotel. The woman even moves behind her husband for protection while he smiles at us shyly but with interest.

Later when we go uphill through the jungle, Lawan stops frequently. I ask John her age. He tells me she is 29, but it is not a question of age: she is merely relaxing for a moment so that she can climb up the hill better.

Thick cloud forests: The north of Thailand offers completely different attractions from the coast. In these foothills of the Himalaya the visitor finds thunderous waterfalls, hot springs, bat caves, rice fields, rain forests and mountains. The notorious Golden Triangle is the setting for drug smuggling and necromancy.

INFORMATION
Lodging: The Greater Mekong Lodge is located within walking distance of the Hall of Opium and offers neat single rooms for 1600 baht (32 Euros) and double rooms for 1800 baht (36 Euros). Contact via email at tourism@doitung.org or gml@doitung.org. The Resort Anantara Golden Triangle belongs to the hotel chain Small Luxuries of the World and is one of the more expensive options at $325.00 per person for two nights, including breakfast. It also includes tickets to the Hall of Opium and an elephant trek. In addition, hotel guests have a direct view of the Mekong from the pool. Information at www.anantara.com.

Weather: Thailand in June has two distinct advantages. First: It is low season and many hotels are cheaper than in the high season between November and March. Second: The weather is not so different from southwest Germany, with temperatures between 30 and 35 degrees Celsius. However, the rainy season also begins in June. Tour operators: ... we recommend the local tour operator North by North East, with main office in Nakhon Phanom, on the border to Laos. The company also arranges individual trips for very small groups. In addition, North by North East offers the opportunity to work on social projects (volunteering). Information at www.north-by-north-east.com. Literature tip: “Thailand” from the series by Stefan Loose Travelhandbücher, 24.95 Euros, ISBN 3-7701-6128-9, contains many useful and critical tips in addition to plentiful information about sites, history and people.