Do It Go

Elephants symbolize Thailand, they symbolize power and prosperity and grace, fit for a king.  The elephant’s place in the history of Thailand spans the literature, the legend, the folklore of Buddhism and the architecture and art of the entire country.  Many of the buildings including the best hotels Phuket has constructed over the years, was done with the help of these gentle giants.  This is an animal that is highly intelligent, extremely loyal, and has the abiltiy to learn a remarkable number of tasks and commands.  These animals are capable of forming lasting friendships and thus are treated as one of the family when they are owned by private citizens.  The elephant makes no differentiation between kings or paupers, it is the deep connection they are capable of creating with the humans of whom they serve.

The population of the elephants has decreased over the years.  About half the elephants now in Thailand are domesticated with the other half living in the wildlife reserves.  Tourism has become one the only ways for the owners of elephants to make a living currently.  Logging was banned 10 years ago, and the main occupation for the beasts was the hauling of the trees.  Most of the elephants of Phuket now ‘earn a living’ through tourism.  They do so in the safari sector.  Trips are taken through the jungles and and along the rivers, and most of the elephants from other regions have been transported to Phuket for this occupation.  This is beneficial for the owners, as to feed an elephant is quite expensive and the money made from the companies such as the Siam Safari Nature Tours and those treks set up by the Khao Sok National Park,  provide the means to care for the elephants in the way that they deserve to be cared for.

Related posts:

1. Phuket’s Many Options
2. Wildlife of Phuket, Thailand
3. The Peaceful Life in Phuket, Thailand
4. Phuket Has Been Good To Us
5. Phuket Electronik

Tags: Buddhism, Elephants, folklore, hotels, Khao Sok National Park, Phuket island, Siam Safari Nature Tours, Thailand, tourism

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 26th, 2009 at 2:17 pm and is filed under Arts, Entertainment, Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.