Goerwitz

Although I don't think there there are really any elephants in the wild left in Thailand (except maybe in Khao Yai National Park), elephants are raised widely, mainly, we gather, as tourist and recreational attractions. Elephants brought in for rides and general amusement have actually become quite a problem in Bangkok.

The Elephant Conservation Center in Lampang offers mahout (elephant trainer) courses. Here we see a mixed group of mahout trainees and real Thai mahouts emerging from a bath in a deep pool. This was a very interesting place to visit. The elephants seem better treated here than anywhere else we visited.

Amy taking one of the thousand (thousands?) of pictures she snapped while we were in Thailand. Here she captures two mahouts on the edge of a water pool on their elephants, at the Elephant Conservatory in Lampang province.