Ayutthaya – The Royal Elephant Kraal
The Royal Elephant Kraal dates back to the 14th century. In those days, a great “Elephant Hunt” takes place every year and mahouts gather the best wild jungle elephants for work, transport and warfare.
We strolled in and the first fellow who greeted us was,
Angry Jumbo! Definitely a “warfare” type.
By the early 20th century, the elephant herding practice disappeared. Today, this is the last kraal in Thailand, where the dying mahout tradition continues to live.
Note the stick hanging from the elephant’s ear.
Guess what the stick is for?
It’s called an ankus. Besides climbing elephants, now and then you’ll find a mahout forcibly stabbing a stubborn elephant with the metal end.
Note the elephant’s leg. The animal raised its knee so his mahout could mount. Kinda cool, like a spaceship ladder.
Elephants were used to carry logs in Thailand’s rain forests until the timber industry was outlawed in the 1990s.
Thousands of mahouts and their elephants were suddenly out of jobs. Some resorted to begging on the streets of Bangkok and Chiang Mai …
… while others switched to the entertainment and tourism industry.
I don’t know if the animals are better off but elephants are, undeniably, chick magnets.
These elephants parade around the main sights of Ayutthaya all day.
So much so, there’s even a lady donning the same attire following them around with a trolley.
I thought that was feed for the elephants.
Little did I know, it was feed for … plants?
