Baan Chang
Tambon Ki Lek, Chiang Mai, Thailand - Day 9
Long post today! Elephants!! We headed north out of Chiang Mai on a nearly one hour journey to Baan Chang (translated: Elephant Home). On the way, our guide Sumit told us some of the history of Thailand. Chiang Mai used to be under the control of the Lanna Kingdom (which was under Burmese control), until a Thai king took over. We also learned how the Thai capital used to be on the west side of the river that splits up Bangkok, but moved because the eastern side was higher ground and the capital was renamed Bangkok. When we got to the park we changed into our Mahout (elephant trainer) clothes, and went to feed the elephants breakfast. We asked if elephants like to be pet or generally like human interaction and Sumit said that elephants build a relationship with their mahout over a long time, but with our quick interaction that they will love us when we have food, but will be over us when we don't. There we chickens running around and I asked how they interact with the elephants. Sumit told us that elephants have very poor eye sight and can't see small objects. Elephants have a superior sense of smell (even better than dogs) though, so they can't see that a small animal is there, but can smell it. This makes the elephant nervous and Sumit said usually an elephant will try to shoo the small animal away. Sure enough an elephant near the chicken swung her trunk (but didn't hit) towards the chicken and it scurried away.
Our guide also told us a lot of the differences between Asian and African elephants. We all know that Asian elephants are smaller and have smaller ears, but some things I didn't know was that Asian elephants heads are bigger and are considered smarter. That Asian elephants have one 'finger' at the end of their trunk, but African elephants have two. The front two feet of an Asian elephant are bigger than their rear feet, while the African is the same. Last difference I remember was that African elephant tusks grow the same for male and female, but female Asian elephant tusks grow down instead our out. While feeding the elephants, we met a two year old that was already about as tall as us. Sumit gave us a tour of the facility and told us a bit more about Baan Chang. He told us the roles elephant have had in Thailand. In ancient times they were used in battle, in peace time as hard laborers in the farming and logging industry. In current times, there are no tribal battles and logging is illegal in Thailand and become illegal in countries surrounding Thailand. Baan Changs newest elephant came from a logging company that closed up shop because logging became illegal in Myanmar. Sumit was honest and said that Baan Chang was not perfect, but they tried really hard to care for the elephants and be mindful of their neighbors and surrounding farms. The elephants are chained up unless they are supervised by their mahout. Sumit told us a story of how one elephant broke its chain and went on a week holiday. He ate some crops and damaged a neighbors house.
Sumit also told us of the dangers of elephants and pointed out their two craziest animals. One was a male who was in heat. There is a pore on an elephants head between their eyes and ears. When a male elephant is in heat their is a musk that is excreted and can visibly see it around the pore. The other elephant was just plain crazy. Sumit said she had killed her mahout at a previous camp. No one rides that one of course. Our guide also told us that his uncle was a logger for 30 years and one day his elephant chomped him on the head and killed him. We said goodbye to the crazies and then met the oldest elephant in the park, a 65 year old gal who was blind in both eyes. Sumit said if an elephant loses their sight they are fine, but die if they lose their teeth.
After we broke for lunch, we were paired off with an elephant to learn some commands and how to mount.
Non Long - Lie down
Kwey (plus kick in opposite direction) - Turn
Pai - Forward/Straight
How - Stop
The first ride was...scary! They are huge animals and immensely strong. We learned how to ride on a male elephant, but our elephant for the rest of the day was female. Not any female, but a beauty contest winner. She was also the biggest female at the park and was about 40 years old. We rode around the park and then took a dip in a pool where we bathed her. She seemed to really like cooling off in the water. When we got back to the park we said our goodbyes and thanked her by feeding her another bucket of sugar cane.
We were pretty exhausted when we got back into town, but went out for the 'Sunday Walking Street' market (oh my Buddha there were a ton of people!). We had some street food and a pizza then called it a day.
