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Thailand travel notes

Elephant Resort

By NaiyapakPublished 2 years ago 3 min read
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Chai Lai orchid, many people know this resort just because it is the only resort in the world that has elephant morning service.

The founder of this resort is New York financier Alexa Pham. Her elephant camp is the only public welfare resort in Chiang Mai. It does not use elephant cruelty as a tame way. The purpose is to innovate elephant eco-tourism and improve local human trafficking and exploitation. But she has also received death threats. Because traditional travel companies, once lucrative from elephant taming, thought the resort's model would reduce their revenue.

In Thailand, traditional mahouts use extremely cruel mental torture when taming elephants. This training method originates from the mountains of Southeast Asia and India. By subjecting the elephant to mental torture. For example, killing his family in front of a juvenile wild elephant has the effect of mental damage. According to the data of the thailandelephant.org website, every elephant serving the tourism industry has almost seen the death of 4-5 elephants.

This training method is extremely cruel. Elephants are not born with the function of riding their backs. The weight and time they can carry are not as durable as horses. Even with a heavy metal chair on the back to work without food for more than 12 hours a day! The sharp spear in the hands of the elephant trainer will also afflict the sensitive skin that can even feel the bite of a mosquito.

Chai Lai orchid understands the unshakable travel style and industry ecology of elephant travel in Thailand. So they just rent elephants by paying rent to elephant owners, and then let tourists experience "bathing, feeding, and interacting with elephants, walking together, learning how to approach and give instructions to the elephants" and other gentle and humane activities. Allowing the elephants to rest while the tourists get the experience. With this proof that elephant travel can exist without chair riding and brutal mental torture. They want to use this as a starting point to slowly influence the way elephants are treated throughout Asia.

According to previous income data, the funds raised by the founders can now cover the rent for half year of the 11 elephants here. While the entire resort has cooperated with social welfare groups to provide some employment and education opportunities to young girls in the mountainous northern Thailand where the resort is located. Let these girls use their own initiative while getting the money they need to live, brainstorming issues of poverty, water scarcity, legal status, human trafficking faced by the community and effectively implement them through the resort's platform.

Because of this innovative act of kindness, Alexa Pham was one of two winners of "Change the World" voted by readers of Marie Claire magazine. In an interview with the magazine, she said: "It's not about setting goals to change the world. It's about how we do it. As Sister Terasa said, not everyone can do great things, but we can do small things with great love. . Make it your habit to do small things every day with big love and integrity, and that’s where peaceful and good change begins.”

Some trips are for enjoyment, while others are for salute. However, this unexpected journey may become a highlight of Chiang Mai travel.

Let the baby elephant wake you up. Wear a bikini and sit on a bamboo raft in the magical forest. Take a walk with the baby elephant. Swing on the river. Visit ancient villages. Find the secret waterfall in the depths of the forest. Hike in the countryside. And taste the best by the stream. The local northern Thai food, accompanied by cicadas to sleep. Where else can such a dreamy experience be found?

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