Working with Elephants
This project offers a great opportunity to get a basic understanding of the Thai domestic elephant and their relationship with their mahout. You will not only learn how to ride your elephant but also how to care for these intelligent, gentle giants. You'll also have the opportunity to learn about the traditional life of the mahouts and join in various communal activities. The elephant mahout project has been developed in order to help the elephants and their mahouts - by creating jobs and financial support, our aim is that they can stay together at the camp forever and have a fairly easy and pleasant future.
About The Elephant Mahout Project
The Elephant Mahout Project is located approximately 20km south of Pattaya on the eastern gulf of Thailand. The mahouts live with their elephants in the quiet countryside, surrounded by forest, where the elephants are sheltered, sleep and eat and offer controlled rides to tourists.
The Elephant Mahout Project helps to provide a safe working and living environment for the elephants, their mahouts and families. By giving volunteers the chance to get up close to these intelligent creatures the project generates extra income for the camp and the mahouts so that they are not forced to overwork their elephants, as they may have to do at other camps in Thailand. The extra income raised by the project also helps to provide food, better living conditions for the elephants and medical assistance. The project also aims to re-educate mahouts that may have been trained to mistreat their elephants and raise their awareness of the expectations that western visitors have for animal welfare, and provide education for tourists, locals and children about the importance of the Thai domestic elephant and the problems they are currently facing.
Volunteers taking part in the project will work closely with one elephant throughout the duration of their stay forming a close bond and relationship. As a volunteer at the project you will follow a progressive training schedule; walking with your elephant through the forest surrounding the camp, learning from the mahout how to verbally command your elephant to follow directions, helping to shower the elephant, feed her and keep her living area tidy. Then learning how to climb onto your elephant and ride on her neck through the forest and surrounding countryside, learning new commands and techniques as you develop confidence and your elephant becomes more responsive to you.
At dusk most of the elephants are taken into the forest and surrounding countryside to spend the night eating and sleeping; you will have the opportunity at least once during your stay to accompany the mahout, returning early the next morning at sunrise to take your elephant back to the camp for their early morning shower or bath (you may be lucky enough to go to a nearby lake if there is enough water).
Other activities that you can get involved with at the camp include general maintenance of the camp, mahout village and trekking trail – path clearing, litter collection etc. – helping with construction and gardening, providing information for visiting tourists and teaching English to the mahouts and their families. You may also get the chance to cut grass and pineapple leaves as extra food for the elephants, see how the mahouts make jewellery from the tail hair of the elephants, help with cooking in the village and learn how to make a hammock – which you can then take with you as a memento or donate to the village! There will also be plenty of time for relaxing in a hammock and simply watching your elephant and learning about its behaviour and personality. The beach and other attractions are also nearby that can be visited at weekends and after finishing at the project each day at around 3pm.
Problems faced by Thai elephants and their mahouts
When logging was made illegal in Thailand many elephants and their mahouts (elephant trainers & handlers) were left without their profession and source of income. As a result of this two things happened:
1. Mahouts were forced to take their elephants onto city streets to beg by selling food for the elephants and photographs with them. This is dangerous for the elephants as living and working within a city and it's pollution causes respiratory problems, there are also dangers from traffic. Some mahouts will also feed their elephants amphetamines to make them work longer hours and there is not adequate food or grazing ground within a city, forcing the elephants to live under bridges and beside busy roads.
2.Tourist camps were set up offering elephant trekking and rides on the elephants. Unfortunately many of these camps, in order to make money, overwork the elephants offering rides and treks all day long in intense heat, allowing the elephants insufficient time to eat and drink - an elephant eats 200kg of food per day. It takes a long time to do that! The elephants also have to wear their 'tourist chairs' all day which can damage their spine.
Volunteer House
The volunteer house is situated in the suburb of Bangsaray, around 20km south of Pattaya and 10 minutes drive from the camp.
The house is located within a private community close to The Elephant Mahout Project office. Each room at the house has a TV with English channels, DVD player, fridge, safe and lockable door. There are two shared bathrooms between three rooms. In the communal areas there is a lounge area and a kitchen area where you can prepare snacks.
At the office nearby there is free internet and free wi-fi connection (if you bring your own laptop), there is also a telephone for making international calls for an additional charge and a widescreen television and DVD player where volunteers can watch DVD’s together. Also near to the house and office is a restaurant where you will have breakfast and be collected in the morning. The beach is a few minutes' drive from the house and a car and driver are available to take and collect you from the beach; Bangsaray beach is a quiet, non-touristy beach with small restaurants and shops nearby. Cheap local transport is within a couple of minutes walk from the house, if you wish to travel into Pattaya, visit nearby attractions or stock up at the supermarket! Also within a few minutes walk are convenience stores (7-11) and the fishing village of Bangsaray, with more stores, restaurants, internet cafes and a local market.
At the camp
If you choose to take the opportunity to stay overnight at the camp you will become completely immersed in and a part of the mahout community, and will spend much more time with your elephant. You will stay in a bamboo and pineapple leaf house with basic facilities – mattress, clean bedding and mosquito net. Each house has electricity – so you will be able to recharge batteries – and lighting. There are western and Asian style toilets at the camp.
There is no hot running water at the camp so showering involves pouring bowls of water over yourself from a drum, luckily being Thailand the water is not usually too cold! Staying within the village will enable you to fully understand and experience the mahout lifestyle. You will rise early in the morning to collect your elephant from the forest, breakfast with your mahouts’ family for a traditional Thai meal or choose to have a continental breakfast of fruit and toast. You will then join the rest of the volunteers for the daily schedule – after time for a rest after your early start!
At 3pm you can choose to continue caring for your elephant, relax or take part in an optional trip. At around 6pm in the evening you will ride your elephant into the forest to their sleeping area for the night, then head back to the camp for a shower and dinner with the mahouts and their families.
Facilities at the camp
There is a small shop within the camp selling basics such as plasters, phone cards, coke, orange juice and some snacks. There are also local shops and convenience stores next to to the camp selling a good variety of hot and cold snacks, drinks, fruit, toilet tissue, basic medications and batteries. The toilets at the camp are both western (i.e. flush) and Asian squat style (with buckets of water to ‘flush’) there is usually no toilet tissue in either so you may like to keep some with you.
Banner image courtesy of volunteer, Lisa Hart - Thank-you Lisa!
Telephone: + 44 (0) 1799 521950
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