Activities Marking Thai Elephants.

Activities Marking Thai Elephants.



“Chang Thai,” or the Thai elephant, has an immense role in Thai society. It is recognized not only as the national animal but also a national symbol for use in public relations to promote Thailand’s image. Thailand was once referred to as the land of elephants, because it was home to a great number of elephants for hundreds of years.

Thai people have lived in harmony with elephants as both working partners and friends for a long time. Aware of the importance of elephant conservation, the Asian Elephant Foundation of Thailand and related non-governmental organizations in 1998 proposed that there should be a special day for elephants in Thailand. The proposal was submitted to the National Identity Board, which decided to pick March 13 each year as Thai Elephants Day.

The decision was based on the fact that the Royal Forest Department designated the white elephant as the national animal of Thailand on 13 March 1963. In May 1998, the Cabinet approved the designation of March 13 as Thai Elephants Day to raise and sustain public awareness of the importance of elephants.

The celebration of Thai Elephants Day began in 1999. Later, in 2001, the Cabinet approved the designation of Chang Thai as a national symbol for the country’s public relations. On 19 February 2005, a production team of the Guinness Book of World Records paid a visit to Chiang Mai Province in the North to record the most expensive painting created by a group of Thai elephants at an elephant kraal in Mae Sa. The acrylic painting, titled “Cold Breeze, Clouds of Fog, and Charms of Lanna No. 1,” is 2.4 meters high and six meters long.

The buyer has presented the painting to the Thai government for display to underline the value of Thai elephants on Thai Elephants Day each year.

The money earned from the sale of this painting has been spent on food for elephants. As part of the celebration of Thai Elephants Day this year, the Elephant Foundation of Thailand, which has been involved with elephant conservation for more than 10 years, will organize a “Kayak International Rally for Thai Elephants.” The rally for Her Majesty Queen Sirikit’s Cup will take place on Ko Chang, or Elephant Island, in Trat Province from March 11 to 13. This charity event is intended to raise funds for Thai elephant conservation and to promote eco-tourism on Ko Chang, with elephants as a magnet for tourists.

A popular tourist destination in the Gulf of Thailand, near the border with Cambodia, Ko Chang is Thailand’s second largest island after Phuket. The Government is promoting Ko Chang as a world-class tourist site, while preserving natural surroundings there. The annual international kayak rally, the second of its kind, will provide an opportunity for both Thai and international tourists to join activities for Thai elephant conservation.

Elephants are an important part of Thai culture and the Thai way of life.
They are a traditional symbol of royal power, an essential feature of Buddhist art and architecture, an a spiritual mentor for people of all walks of life. In the early part of this century, elephants roamed freely and in multitude throughout Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Prior to the 18th century they were the main machine of Southeast Asian war, a Thai king of the late 17th century having had 20,000 war elephants trained for battle. Elephants in Thailand have always been a symbol of both power and peace. They have always performed the most exacting physical tasks. And they have always been well loved.


The number of elephants in Thailand today is limited to about 2,000. Most of these are at various elephant camps around the country where they learn to work in the forests and mountains and to entertain the hundreds of thousands of people who go to see them each year, and where they live, play and reproduce in a setting that is as close to the wild as possible.Elephants have plied in Thailand's Jungles since the days of old Siam.

The elephant is acknowledged as having many wide attributes, and perhaps the most obvious is showmanship. Talent for a stately presence, for delicate foot movement and agility, for intelligence on the field of sport, and at the same time a particular gentleness that makes the elephant not only a highly respected creature of the land but also one that is appreciated and loved.Trained elephants can entertain people in many ways elephant racing, tug-of-war, football match, walking over the persons with their bellies on the ground, carrying the lady, surfboard, sitting on the stool, etc.

Thai elephants can be found in the tourism sector, logging industry, wandering in national parks or local circus. Of these only about 20 elephants can paint. Elephants producing artwork could be a solution to raising funds to preserve Thai elephants.

Mrs. Anchalee Kalmapijit a director of the Mae Sae Elephant Camp came to realize the admiration the Japanese have for elephant art when she saw the popularity of the travelling elephant art exhibition while she was visiting Japan. She asked herself how could she educate and create awareness among Thai people to increase their appreciation of this rare talent found in a selected few of the country's beloved elephants.

The Mae Sa Elephant Camp and the Imperial Mae Ping Hotel have joined together to organize "The World's Best Elephant Art Exhibition" at the Imperial Mae Ping Hotel. The exhibition continues until March 2004.

Each day around 5 pm two elephants demonstrate their skills in painting Chinese water color technique. You may be meet Wanpen and Kongkam painting motifs such as flowers, trees, golden bamboo, grape and plum blossoms. Other artists are named Kamsan, Lankam, Duanpen, Panpetch and Songpan.

Everyday there are articles describing the problems mahouts face in keeping their elephants well and healthy in Thailand. More and more often a common question commonly asked among Thai people who are concerned about preserving Thai Elephants is about ways in which the public can take an active role. After you have visited the exhibition, urge your neighbors, friends, and school mates to visit the exhibition to generate greater interest in how to save Thai Elephants