Tourists support abuse of elephants

It certainly felt wonderful to finally see elephants moving around freely without being forced to paint or perform stupid tricks, and being handled by people who obviously cared about them. We, the visitors, fed and bathed the elephants but the best part of the trip was watching the elephants behaving like elephants and not circus freaks.

But what was extremely depressing was the film they showed us, which reminded everyone that domestic baby elephants are still routinely tied up in tiny cages where they are beaten and tortured for days and deprived of food to break their spirits. I saw one elephant at the park (though not a baby) which was blind because its previous owner had poked its eyes out.

 A few years ago People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) exposed these atrocities against baby elephants, and the Thai government responded by saying those abuses were isolated instances, the government was working to improve the situation, and that PETA was pulling a publicity stunt. The government lied on all counts and it is still legal for owners to murder and torture domestic elephants. 

Since the purpose of most domestic elephants is to serve the tourist industry, we foreigners are to blame for the elephants begging in the streets or being abused at the elephant shows. We should be giving our money to places such as the Elephant Nature Park so we can be helping the elephants instead of harming them.

Eric Bahrt

Pattaya