Juliet's Adventures in the Far East: Elephants and Tigers and ... Ok, no bears in Thailand, still, oh my!

Once again, I messed up the chronological order, but mai pen rai (never mind in Thai). I was a little uneasy seeing these beautiful wild creatures stuck in rather small cages for tourists to come pet. It felt extremely unnatural to me. I can say that I pet a tiger now, though it was a bit anticlimactic...

Now for the elephants. I think they just may be my new favorite animal. We all went to the elephant show thinking it wouldn't be anything special - I was expecting a classic tourist trap. I had also heard some controversy about these shows. We were more than pleasantly surprised by them.

Until 1989, elephants in Thailand had long careers on farms, jungles, and in the army before the advent of modern technology. Elephants were a most powerful symbol in Thai society. Today, it is illegal to employ these elephants for these activities, and although they are still revered by Thais, they are suffering the consequences of being unemployed. Many are illegally pumped with amphetamines and logging around the clock on the Burmese border. Others are being walked in cities where their trainers or mahouts sell bananas to tourists to make some money. These are terrible environments for them. So quite honestly, I would rather see them in shows where at least they are in their natural habitat. Perhaps I am not aware of the full story, but I still thought I should mention how adorable they were. I have a little video clip of the elephants bathing before the show, but wasn't able to upload it. If God forbid I find a faster connection, I'll upload it immediately.