25 November 2014. Birthday Party with the Elephants

For a birthday treat, I was up and out at 8.00, armed with a coffee and sandwich from the hipster Inn. The othesr in the party - four couples - were all very pleasant companions and the 90 minute drive to the Elephant Sanctuary (www.saveelephant.org) passed quickly, especially with the aid of a couple of films we were shown about the place.

It was a terrific day out and far more worthwhile to my mind than some touristic elephant ride - especially given the heart-rending movie we were shown on the 'training' process that working elephants go through to break their spirit and submit to man.

Virtually all the elephants seemed to have a dark past that had led them to the sanctuary. Some for example had trodden on land mines near the Burmese border; other seemed to have been subjected to wanton cruelty.

It definitely pointed up to me a strangely paradoxical relationship between Thais and their national symbol.

Of course,  I've ended up with a stack of photos and here are a few