We got a chance to do an overnight stay at Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai. It was the highlight of a 2 week trip, our second, to Thailand.
This operation was born out of a love of a woman for her country and its elephants who, despite their size and strength, are not surviving the transition to the 21st century. I want to thank Lek and all her staff for making our stay there wonderful and eye-opening regarding the plight of Thailand%26#39;s elephants.
The most amazing thing was that my mother-in-law who is Thai, has spent years proudly taking friends and family on tours of Thailand and showing off her wonderful country of origin. Part of the trips included visits to the elephant camps. She never knew, just like we didn%26#39;t when we were at an elephant camp last trip, the ugly truth behind trekking, logging, and elephant shows and begging.
After having spent the time at Elephant Nature Park and learning the way that elephants are tortured into submission in order to perform a show, or trek, or even street beg, I asked her if this is the type of experience she would rather show other friends and family. She replied, '; 100%, of course.';
I hope that others read this thread and make the humane choice of not supporting the exploitation of Thailand%26#39;s last remaining domestic elephants, and instead support a wonderful organization and operation that seeks to rehabilitate and heal all the damage of years of overwork does to these fellow mammals.
My favorite experiences were watching the mahouts and Lek put the babies down for their naps and our misadventure with getting chased by excited baby elephants which got the dogs going which ended up in my father-in-law tripping and scraping himself up which then led to a convergence of a worried Lek, mahouts, and tour guides all finding him laughing on his back with baby elephants snickering as they ran back to their herd, ';Mischief Made!!';
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