Moira and Sridor Yai
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"What the heck is a 'mahout'," you ask? A mahout is a person who owns, trains and cares for an elephant. The same idea as, say, a rancher who has a horse that has to be trained and cared for, except on a much larger scale, with a larger degree of difficulty and a much bigger appetite.
Have you ever looked into the eyes of an elephant and wondered, "What are you thinking, are you happy, are you scared?" Ever wondered what the fate of Thailand’s elephants will be in 10 or 20 years from now? I did, and do, except I took these feelings and questions one step further. In December 2004 I went to the National Elephant Institute (formerly the Thai Elephant Conservation Center), just outside Lampang, a small city 80km south of Chiang Mai and signed up for their 10-day mahout training course!
"What was I thinking?" Actually, a lot of people asked me that. Here I am at a stage in my life when I should be thinking about golfing, spending the afternoon on the beach, by the pool or taking a tour of some local wats (temples) - not wandering around in a hot and humid jungle on the back of an animal weighing-in at around two-four tonnes. On the other hand, I was thinking this might be nothing but fun and a whole lot different from my life in Canada - you know, golfing, sitting by the pool, wandering around the malls, etc.
After a year of planning I finally arrived at the Elephant Center in December 2004. During the first few hours I was given a quick lesson in elephant anatomy, Thai elephant command training, a sacred 10 item list of what and what not to do around an elephant, then I was issued a one-size-fits-all uniform with all the trimmings - a machete and elephant pick (for steering). After my uniform was blessed during a traditional Thai Buddhist ceremony I finally got to meet my elephant and his mahout. It sure was a very full and busy first day.
Without a doubt the most important part of this course is your elephant, and believe me I was nervous about meeting him. I really didn’t know what to expect or what was expected of me. I immediately started to relax when I learned the name of my elephant, ‘Sridor Yai’, which means ‘male elephant without tusks,’ or as my interpreter ‘Khun Daeng’ put it, "a girlie boy elephant". Sridor stood about eight-feet-tall to his shoulder, not the tallest of elephants, but he sure was sweet, cute, and perhaps could be considered a little overweight. He was perfect for me.
A pleasant surprise for me was the accommodation. I thought I would be sleeping in a typical jungle-like Thai abode, but I was given my own little cottage with wooden walls, tiled floors, proper shower and a nice bed (a little on the hard side as there was no proper mattress to speak of). The communal kitchen was a typical Thai outdoor one and the cooks provided us with three delicious Thai meals a day. We even enjoyed some cold beer the odd night.
Out for a ride
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For the next 10 days I was the proud owner of an elephant and was taught how to properly care and handle him. I say ‘handle’ loosely, because I was never exactly sure if Sridor Yai was stubborn or just slyly smart thinking, "Ignore the puny little tourist on your back and do just what the heck you want. Eventually she’ll stop bugging me and I can stop and eat all day." On the other hand, he let me crawl under his belly, around him, lay under him and even chain him to a tree.
My days started at 06:00 with us walking out to the jungle to fetch Sridor Yai and bring him back to the mahout training area. I swear some mornings he’d still be asleep when we got there, but he was always happy to see us and welcomed us with a few flaps of his ears and extended his trunk to us for his morning treat of bananas. At end of the day, usually around 18:00, we’d take him back out to the jungle for an evening of eating and sleeping. At night the elephants are kept chained-up by one leg so they can feed and sleep there undisturbed. One of my fondest memories happened most evenings after everyone had gone to bed and the day’s chores were done. I would be laying in the dark, listening to the elephants talking to each other from their various places in the forest, their gentle sounds helping me drift into sleep - pure bliss.
During my 10 days I was taught/shown how to saddle an elephant in order to carry merchandise/pull logs, how to load dart guns and practice shooting a wild elephant (I’ve never actually shot a gun before), the basics about elephant medicine, got a chance to work with vets at the elephant hospital, learned about herbs in the jungle and how they can be used for people and elephants, how to make equipment for elephants, making paper from elephant dung, how to bathe elephants, watched videos on how elephants are trained/rescued, how to travel and live in the jungle for multiple days, and a host of other things. It was a very busy 10 days as you have probably gathered.
Suddenly my last day arrived. I was unbelievably sad as Sridor Yai and I had become good friends and ended up having a lot of respect for each other. I now had a lot more knowledge about Thai domesticated elephants than I ever thought I would have. After some hugs and tears I sadly left the Center but in my heart knew I would come back soon and had enjoyed one of the greatest experiences of my adult life.
These courses are for people who want a deeper understanding of elephants and the relationship between elephant and mahout. They claim that if you’re not an elephant lover when you sign up, "this program will make you become an elephant lover".
The Institute’s main objective is to develop elephant conservation in a sustainable way and preserve local traditions for future generations. The Institute also aims to improve the tourism business for the benefit of elephants as well as tourists.
The National Elephant Institute is located just outside the city of Lampang, an easy drive from Chiang Mai. You can visit them online at: www.changthai.com and if you’re interested, you can sign-up for a three, 10 or 30-day mahout training course. |
