My letter to the NY Times that never get publish, it's not a good letter/article I guess.
Dear the NY Times:
When I first saw the article "Caution: Elephants Brake for Food on Bangkok’s Roads" written by Mr. Thomas Fuller, I was very excited. I have been living in the United States for ten years and any reminiscence about Thailand was a joy to see and read. However, I was disappointed with the article after I read it. Mr. Fuller wrote the article in a perfect journalism format which including interview with the local and the history research. However, as a Thai woman who grown up in Bangkok and then live in the Khao Yai National Park where the majority of elephant resides peacefully in their own habitat, I feel that Mr. Fuller article was a bit narrow. First of all, it would be nice to read something from Thailand without seeing the stereotype words like "illegal activities", "fake watch", "pirated DVD", "red-light district", "a Go Go bar", and of course "bar girls". Yes, the article was about elephant in Bangkok but there are many areas in Bangkok that can provide Mr. Fuller with the same elephant dwelling experience. Although I cannot deny that it is much quicker and easier to find the news resource in Red-Light district.
Furthermore, the ending of the article is bit biases toward human.
The article portrayed the elephant as "powerful, restless creatures prone to rebellion" and at last "fierce" creature. I grew up with a different view of elephants. For me, they are smart, gentle, and spiritual. In my opinion, Elephant are not the on who are restless and uncontrollable. It is we, human being, who are restless and fierce. I have written a small article titled "Under the Elephants" with the hope that it may describe more direct relationship between Thai community and elephants.
Under the Elephants
By Varinthorn Christopher
I do not remember how I felt the first time I was under the elephant. I was still an infant then. My mother told me I was born earlier and thinner than usual. My frail body covered by wrinkly skin that remained green even after my mother brought me back from the hospital. My whole family was panic; I did not attempt to suck the breast milk, I did not cry, I did not look "alive".
"Find the elephant," my grandmother said.
My father drove around the city. They sat up the neighbor watched. Call us when the elephant come.
I was about to turned three weeks old when she came.
She was the biggest elephant they have ever seen. Her skin was pale gray, a sign of maturity. My father scooped me and ran out of the house to stop the elephant. He paid the mahouts or what we call "Kwan Chang" a small fee and gave the elephant some bananas. Then my father passed me under the majestic creature to my mother who waited from the other side. Everybody knew enough not to make a loud noise to startle the gentle beast. After repeated the passing ritual three times, they pat the elephant and took me inside the house.
Miraculously, I started to suck the breast milk. My skin flushed with pink hue. I laugh and coo, even cry when it was time to be fed.
In Thailand, elephants are believed to be holy animals that possess spiritual power. Duckling under the elephant was belief to bring good luck and good health, especially to children. As a sick child, duckling under the elephants was a big part of my childhood. First, I waited for the ready sign from Kwan Chang, and then I ducked myself under the monument like body. I remembered the darkness. I felt like the sun was eaten. Somehow I sensed protection, safety feeling under the womb like environment.
My favorite parts of elephants are the eyes. If you ever look inside the eyes of the elephants, you will see that they are full of feelings. You will feel the gentleness and loving when they glazed at your eyes. Two years ago, while visiting my father in Northern Thailand I was kissed by the elephant. He was not my first elephant kiss but he is the biggest one yet. I remembered that he was holding his breath, as if afraid I would blow away from the breathing. I looked into his eyes and we exchange a silence communication. He was smiling and I was crying.
The problem of elephants in the city is the sad illustration of the small country changing toward Western civilization. For centuries, elephants were a part of life in Thai society. When Thai government banned the logging in the late 1980s, elephants and their owners became unemployed. Most are homeless. Feeding 5000 pounds animal obviously cost a lot of money. That is the main reason Kwan Chang moved to the city. We often saw them sleep under the highway bridge, the same way the homeless in many country do.
So why not free the elephants to the forest where they belong?
Because those elephants have been domesticated. They were trained to live with human since they were very young. Also, the relationship between Kwan Chang and his elephant are very intense. They love each other deeply. They are family, a pack. There was big news one time of the elephant that killed his owner by accident. The elephant somehow walked into the sea as if to committed suicide. The police had to used the big boat to drag him back in the shore.
Why elephants became violent?
Like most human and animals, elephants obtain protective instinct. Often the mother became "tick off" while seeing something that may threaten the life of their young. Elephant also have a period when they typically became more violence. Thai people called it "Tok Mon". It is a natural phenomenon occurs often in male elephants but also some female. This period last about 2-3 weeks but can last as long as 5 months in some elephant. During this period, elephants developed egg sized boil on both sized of his temple at the area between his ears and eyes. The boil will eventually get bigger until reach its mutuality. At this point the boil will burst and leak the sticky liquid contained intense odor. During this period, elephants become very angry, agitated and will experience lost of memory. They will not remember their owner and will danger to everything insight. Experienced Kwan Chang would know to separate the elephant to the quiet area. The elephants are best to leave alone with adequate amount of water and food. This became very hard fact for many homeless Kwan Chang in Bangkok. How could one find the quiet area for a truck-sized animal in the city famous for its heavy traffic? Even when the elephants are not in the "Tok Mon" period, it is still very difficult to keep big animals calm in the city environment. Even myself, a 5 foot 7 inch, 110 pounds person, often feel claustrophobic and agitated in the city like Bangkok. Here we are talking about the 10 feet, 5000 pounds animal. My mother who lives in Khao Yai National Park, Thailand has encountered wild elephants many times while driving across the mountain. Several times she observed the gentle animals walk along the side of the cars. "If you remained quiet, they will just quietly passed by", She said.
Two years ago I visited Maesa Elephant Camp in Chiang Mai, Thailand. I remembered that at the time I became very sad to see that elephants were chained. I felt that they were forced to perform in the benefit of their owners. I remember telling my husband that this activity are inhumane and should be illegal. I was a vegan and PETA activist who visited home after 5 years in America. However, after we sat down and talk with Kwan Chang in person, I realized that those elephants would not survive in the wild. The elephant camp somehow is the answer for domestic elephants and their owner to survive. Unlike the zoo, the elephants at the camp have plenty of exercises and more social interaction. Not only that, it helps preserved the culture and a way of life that could have been lost.
At the end of the trip I walked out the elephant camp with uncertainly feeling. Who am I to judge what is right and what is wrong based on my narrow viewpoint. Half way to the car, the wind blew my hat away. I turned to look for my hat and all of the sudden I felt a gentle tap on my head. It was a big elephant that picked up the hat with his trunk and put it back on my head. He tapped my head as if to securely fit the hat in place. Then he tap some more and a few time more, each time harder than the other. "Ouch" I cried, only to see him lifted his trunk over my head and gave me a mocking smile.
To learn more about elephants in Thailand and to help please visit http://www.asian-elephant.org/
To view the video from the trip, please visit www.khaochae.com/watch
Varinthorn Christopher is an MFA student with emphasis in social practice at Portland State University.