Elephant Hospital

Sawasdee khràp everyone!

    I wanted to share a little about a cultural experience that I thoroughly enjoyed.  We had the pleasure as we were leaving from Chiang Mai to visit an elephant hospital in the area of Lampang.  It was an incredible opportunity to see the majestic and beautiful Asian elephant.  I have seen the African elephant before as a child but never the Asian elephant.  We first arrived we were taken via a shuttle into the elephant hospital grounds were we first had the chance to meet all the different elephants and had the opportunity to feed them sugar cane stalks and take photos with the beautiful creatures.  It was amazing to get to be so close with the gentle giants.  They were so tender and sweet.  The elephants and the handlers were incredibly friendly and it was great to see all the different ages of the elephants.  The youngest was 6 years old and some were as old as 44 years or more.  I loved how they always knew you had food and would immediately grab the sugar cane stalks from your hands with their trunks.  I loved to pet them while they ate their sugar cane.  Their skin and hair were a little rough but softer than I had anticipated.  The handlers then took them to a pool of water right next to the area and showed how they cool down and then we walked together to the show arena.  Some of the elephants looked so content in the water.

     As we were walking two of the larger elephants were carrying a drum and one was beating the drum as we walked to see the elephant show.  The elephant show was in a shaded arena that showcased what the elephant hospital does and their purpose.  It was interesting to find out that elephants are often used to help pull logs in the logging operations that occur in Thailand.  They are able to go to places modern machines are not able to go.  The hospital was originally established to help the elephants get better from many different ailments especially from their work in the logging industry.  This hospital then developed into showing tourist about the elephants giving them a chance to interact with the elephants.  During the show, the announcer asked if there were any volunteers who wanted to play catch with the elephants.  I immediately raised my hand and went to play catch with the elephants.  They threw a ball into the air and my job was to catch the ball in a plastic basket.  My elephant and I were in sync and we had 100 percent catch rate. It was a blast and wicked fun.  Towards the end of the show, we watched as the elephants made canvas painted art.  I must say the elephants are better artists than I am.  After the show, we had the opportunity to ride the elephants.  These are amazing creatures and I was incredibly honored to have the opportunity to interact with the elephants.  I am also happy it was done in a more ethical manner than most of the shows available to tourist to see elephants.

    I truly appreciate this opportunity to see such a majestic creature and an opportunity to interact so personally with the animals.  I can see why the elephant is associated with royal and revered so much. 

As always thank you for reading and I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving!

-IM