The elephant and ivory trade in Thailand (PDF, 800 KB) - Traffic
The elephant and ivory trade in Thailand (PDF, 800 KB) - Traffic
The elephant and ivory trade in Thailand (PDF, 800 KB) - Traffic
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
Table 1. (cont<strong>in</strong>ued)<br />
Elephant camps used <strong>in</strong> tourism activities <strong>in</strong> Thail<strong>and</strong>, 2002<br />
Prov<strong>in</strong>ce <strong>and</strong> camp<br />
No. of<br />
Status of <strong>elephant</strong>s<br />
No. of mahouts<br />
<strong>elephant</strong>s<br />
21. Suan Nong Nuch 18 All belong to the camp 18<br />
22. Moo Ban Chang<br />
Pattaya<br />
30 20 belong to camp <strong>and</strong> 10 are hired 30<br />
23. Suan Chang Pattaya 28 5 belong to camp <strong>and</strong> 23 are hired 28<br />
Kanchanaburi<br />
24. Maesah 30 16 belong to camp <strong>and</strong> 14 are hired 25<br />
25. Pu Tong 26 6 belong to camp <strong>and</strong> 19 are hired 26<br />
26. Sai Yoke 25 8 belong to camp <strong>and</strong> 17 are hired 25<br />
27. Ban Mai Pattana 12 Belong to different Karen owners 12<br />
28. Som Nek 5 All are hired 5<br />
29. Sang Kla 18 All are hired 18<br />
Phuket<br />
30. Siam Safari 35 All are hired 35<br />
31. Phuket Fantasy 35 All belong to the bus<strong>in</strong>ess 35<br />
32. Karen Lagoon Elephant<br />
Trekk<strong>in</strong>g Club<br />
33. Elephant Safari<br />
Trekk<strong>in</strong>g<br />
28 All are hired 28<br />
15 All are hired 15<br />
35. Tour Chang Pathong 5 All are hired 5<br />
36. Phuket Water Ski 5 All are hired 5<br />
37. Sun Nature Tour<br />
Company<br />
13 All are hired 13<br />
38. Vik<strong>in</strong>g FoodCenter 8 All are hired 8<br />
39. Phuket Snake Farm 5 All are hired 5<br />
TOTAL 39 1008 553 owned, 389 hired 1058-1063<br />
Source: Tipprasert, 2002<br />
Based on these figures, the tourism sector utilized approximately 1000 <strong>elephant</strong>s, with well over 1000<br />
mahouts <strong>and</strong> the hundreds of people who worked <strong>in</strong> subsidiary jobs related to the <strong>elephant</strong>s employed.<br />
Many of the mahouts are ethnic Karen or Thais from Sur<strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong> the east of Thail<strong>and</strong>, an area known for its<br />
<strong>elephant</strong> traditions.<br />
Domesticated <strong>elephant</strong>s are also imported to <strong>and</strong> exported from Thail<strong>and</strong>. Historically, the ma<strong>in</strong> sources of<br />
imported <strong>elephant</strong>s have been Myanmar followed by Lao PDR (Lair, 1997; Shepherd, 2002). Before 1990,<br />
adult <strong>elephant</strong>s would be brought <strong>in</strong> to work <strong>in</strong> the logg<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>dustry, but these are no longer needed due to<br />
the logg<strong>in</strong>g ban. Dem<strong>and</strong> has now shifted to calves under two years of age. <strong>The</strong>y are used ma<strong>in</strong>ly <strong>in</strong><br />
amusement parks <strong>and</strong> are tra<strong>in</strong>ed to perform various stunts for tourists. In the mid 1990s, about 50 calves<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>elephant</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>ivory</strong> <strong>trade</strong> <strong>in</strong> Thail<strong>and</strong><br />
13
Change language