The tourism industry in Thailand is on the verge of death due to Corona 19, but some elephants that have been afflicted by people have been given’gifts’ to return to their hometown.
According to local media such as the Daily Bangkok Post, five elephants working for tourists in Pattaya, Chonburi Province, Bangkok, have recently started their return trip to their hometown, Surin Province, in the northeastern region.
These elephants were moved from Surin to Pattaya about five years ago.
There, I carried tourists on my back.
Prior to the Corona 19 crisis, each elephant earned about 15,000 baht (about 530,000 won) per month, excluding tips.
However, with the outbreak of Corona 19 at the beginning of last year, the situation changed sharply as Chinese tourists, who accounted for the majority of customers, were cut off due to entry bans.
The tour operator did not pay salaries to elephant owners.
A year passed without making money, and there was no sign of any improvement in the Corona 19 incident for the time being, so the owners eventually decided to return the elephants to their hometown.
They also plan to live and farm there, the newspaper said.
The elephants’ return home is about 500 km.
Owners have to walk because they don’t have the money to rent a large vehicle to carry an elephant.
Because of this, the journey is expected to take about two weeks.
People and elephants are known to depart early in the morning to avoid the hot April sun in Thailand.
There is also the risk of being hit by a car while walking along the road, so relatives of the owners ride pickup trucks to protect the procession from the front and back.
The owners said they refused to donate cash for fear that the return procession would be seen as a’show show’, but said citizens were grateful for the elephants and their water, fruit, and food.
In Thailand, when there are almost no tourists due to the COVID-19 outbreak, it is often reported in the media that an elephant, which has been used to make money for tourists at zoos and resorts, is sent home.
In May last year, World Animal Conservation, a group headquartered in London, UK, said that 2,000 elephants in Thailand faced a risk of hunger without being able to feed tourist facilities or shelter operators.
Elephants are’big eaters’ who eat 300 kg of food a day.
Previously, the food was obtained with money paid by tourists, but it is known that there are many cases of returning to nature as tourists disappear after the corona crisis and a survival crisis looms.
(Photo = Bangkok Post Facebook capture, Yonhap News)