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talking about elephants, Thai people always think of
them as lovely creatures despite their huge sizes and
clumsy bodies weighing about 3 tons on the average.
These creatures have maintained a close and admirable
relationship with us Thais since the Sukhothai period
(circa 1238-1438 A.D.) as evidenced by a stone inscription
dated from King Ramkhamhaeng's reign (1279-1299), which
reads in part: "...Who wants to trade in elephants,
trades. Who wants to trade in horses, trades...The citizens
feel happy." |
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| In the Ayutthaya era, these powerful
animals played a very prominent role in battles somewhat
like the role of tanks in modern times. The most well-known
elephant-back battle in Thai history was the duel in
1593 between King Naresaun of Thailand and the Crown
Prince of Burma, resulting in the death of the latter.
Besides, many famous Thai kings like King Ramkhamhaeng
and King Naresuan were great warriors on elephant back.
Not only men, but women also showed their bravery in
war in ancient Siam. For instance, Queen Suriyothai
who, during a battle with the invading Burmese in 1569,
charged her war elephant at the enemy in an attempt
to save her endangered husband King Mahachakraphat.
Unfortunately she got herself killed together with a
princess. |
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A painting depicting
Queen Suriyothai in the
elephant-back battle with the Burmese in 1569.
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| The use of elephants in war gradually
became obsolete after the invention of firearms. But
now you can watch such a mock battle in the annual Elephant
Roundup held in Surin province in November. This popular
spectacle features an elephant roundup, showing how
to capture wild elephants and tame them for work. Other
exciting and amusing items include elephant races, a
tug-of-war between one elephant and a group of strong
men, and demonstrations of log-pulling skills. The highlight
of the programme that you should not miss is the splendid
parade of battle elephants reminiscent of the battlefield
in ancient times. Another festival in which you can
witness a magnificent procession of fully decorated
elephants and performers is the King Narai Reign Fair
held annually around mid-February in Lop Buri province.
The purpose of the fair is to commemorate King Narai's
immense contributions towards the country. |
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A mock elephant-back
battle.
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| In addition, nowadays, such performances
are available in big cities like Bangkok, Pattaya and
Phuket. Of these, the oldest and largest is Samphran
Elephant Ground and Zoo on the outskirts of Bangkok.
Other zoos providing elephant shows are Samutprakarn
Crocodile Farm & Zoo in Samut Prakan province, Phuket
Zoo in Phuket province, Sriracha Tiger Zoo and The Million
Years Stone Park&Pattaya Crocodile Farm in Chon
Buri province. At these places, you will be impressed
by the loveliness of the jumbos and amazed by their
intelligence demonstrated by their various performances,
ranging from dancing to playing football. |
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Elephants show
their talents in playing
football in Surin Elephant Roundup.
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| To give you a more vivid picture
of how such gigantic wild creatures are captured, a
brief description of the elephant roundup is given here.
Traditionally, three methods were used. The first is
called phon chang, i.e. to catch the elephant
one by one by the use of a decoy. The second is called
wang chang, or to catch a whole group of elephants
by the use of a large cage. The third one is to drive
wild elephants into a kraal, with the help of decoys
and mahouts. |
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A show demonstrating
the Elephant Roundup.
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It was a royal practice done in
former times to capture bull and cow elephants to
be trained as beasts of war. There have been three
elephant kraals in our history, one in Lop Buri province,
one in Nakhon Nayok province and the other in Ayutthaya
province. At present, the former two have only a piece
of high ground left.
Elephants in this country are of
the Asian species. Unlike the African ones, the Asian
elephants possess larger brains, resulting in exceptional
talents. This explains why Thai people have practised
elephant taming for a long time. Yet, the Thais in
the past did not see elephants as working animals.
Instead, these jumbos were treated as friends or family
members. Moreover, elephants, especially the albino
ones possessed social prestige.
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Officials present
HM King Bhumibol
an albino elephant.
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the belief of Brahmanism, the white (or albino) elephant is a sign of glory and
prosperity of the reign. King Mahachakraphat (1549-1569) of the Ayutthaya period
had seven of these albinos and earned the title of the Lord of White Elephants.
Later, when King Rama II (1809-1824) learned that three white elephants had been
under his royal authority, he used the symbol of a white elephant on the red cloth
as the national flag to commemorate this auspicious event. The flag had been used
until King Rama VI (1910-1952) had it replaced with the present tricolour one.
White elephants did bring success and prosperity to the reign of King Chulalongkorn
(1868-1910) who was in possession of nine white elephants and successfully led
the country to modernization and prevented it from becoming a victim of Western
colonialism. The figure of elephant also appears on a category of decorations
given to people who have done meritorious services to the country.
Apart from
the above, ordinary elephants have a strong impact on Thai society in other aspects
too. Lots of beliefs were derived from the close relationship between elephants
and human beings. One of the most well-known practices is passing under the belly
of an elephant to get rid of bad luck. This practice is believed to bring good
fortune to the doer and make his or her prayers come true. | | | |
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Elephants love
to bathe in a river.
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The correct procedure is to lower oneself and walk
under the belly of the elephant from its left to its
right, then walk pass in front of it and go under
its belly once again, pray while doing this. Offerings
are not necessary. Those who want to do this can bring
only flowers, incense sticks and candles.
Thai traditional dream interpretation manuals cite
many dreams related to elephants as well. For example,
if one dreams about riding an elephant into a river,
it foretells that one will face a charge of offending
the law. When dreaming about one holding an elephant
in one's arms, one will be happy and likely to be
promoted. When one dreams of receiving an elephant
as a gift, one is facing bad luck. To reduce its severity,
one must tell someone about one's dream under a tree.
And if one dreams that one has a fight on elephant
back, one will face miseries. Taking a bath will help
get rid of this bad omen.
Elephants are also mentioned in some Thai sayings.
For example, Khi chang chap takkataen, or riding
an elephant to catch a grasshopper, means investing
a large amount of money or efforts into something
that is not worth doing. Chang tai thang tua ao
bai bua ma pid, or covering a dead elephant with
a lotus leaf, means that one cannot keep an acute
evil deed secret because the truth will out some day.
In Buddhist legend, three elephants took signi- ficant
roles in Buddhist beliefs. Patchainakhen was the elephant
in the possession of Vessantara, the last life of
the Buddha before he was born as prince Sidharatha
and obtained enlightenment. Palilai once took care
of the Lord Buddha when he stayed away from the monks
lacking unity. Nalagiri was a furious beast which
Devadhattha released to harm the Buddha, but later
it was pacified by his holy mercy.
The above description clearly conveys the long lasting
bonds between elephants and Thais. Nevertheless, in
this fast-changing and keenly competitive industrialized
world, the importance of elephants has become far
less recognized. They are frequently abused, exploited
and made to suffer from overwork, drug addiction and
serious wounds left after their beautiful tusks were
cut off. At the same time, forests, which are food
sources and natural habitats of elephants have been
destroyed rapidly.
According to statistics of the Department of Livestock
Development given to Thaiways by the Friends
of the Asian Elephant Foundation, the number of domesticated
elephants in 1950 was 13,397. It fell critically to
2,988 in 1983 and to only 2,172 in 2000. This alarming
decline has aroused people who have grave concern
for these lovely animals to endeavour to cope with
these threatening problems.
Several organizations have joined in the campaign
to help save the elephants from extinction. Among
these, two are outstanding. The first one is the Friends
of the Asian Elephant Foundation, a non-profit organization
with an aim to alleviate elephant's suffering, established
by Khun Soraida Salwala. Thanks to this foundation,
the first elephant hospital in the whole world was
set up in 1994. The second is the National Elephant
Institute, also the world's No.1 full-scale elephant
institute, run by the Forest Industries Organization.
Many projects initiated by it became the earliest
of the world, including the Mahout and the Young Elephant
Training School featuring complete curriculums to
produce professional mahouts, and the Elephants' Semen
Freezing Project conducted by Khun Nikorn Thongtip
(a veterinarian of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine,
Kasetsart University) and his team, under the cooperation
between the Institute and Kasetsart University. This
project met with success in April 2002 by using the
Manual Collection method to collect elephants' semen
with strong sperm.
As the bonds between elephants and Thai people have
been established so close and so enduring, we ought
to feel extremely grateful to these jumbos for their
help in many aspects of our lives. And it is regrettable
that their importance has been neglected and that
they are even threatened with extinction. With all
the endeavours mentioned above, we hope and pray that
elephants will survive and multiply their members
from now on and regain their prestigious position
in our society.
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