Soraida Salwala, founder of FAE's Elephant Hospital, soothes Baby Honey in 1993.

Below is Part 1 of a two-part article originally written by Sean Whyte in 1993 detailing how Soraida’s bond with an injured baby elephant led her to found FAE’s Elephant Hospital:

Thailand’s elephants, both wild and domesticated, are struggling for their survival.  The wild elephant population is declining rapidly due to destruction of their natural habitats (forests), poaching for ivory and the slaughter of female elephants for their calves to sell into circuses and as tourist attractions.

Increasingly, owners are mistreating and neglecting domesticated elephants that can no longer help generate income from logging.  They are a burden to their owners who, in many cases, underfeed or simply sell them to the highest bidder. Some suffer from abuse or accidental injuries and maltreatment.  Some are neglected and left to die of their injuries or in a few cases, starvation.

It was a typical day in Bangkok, oppressively hot and humid. I was looking forward to some rest before returning to England after yet arduous trip to save dolphins in Thailand. Before me, lying on her side was “Honey”, her eyes full of fear and pain. I had come to the Dusit Zoo in central Bangkok having heard from an English friend that an injured baby elephant was there, being left to die without medical attention. “Do you know of anyone back in England, Sean, who would be prepared to help Honey? I should mention though, even if you do there is no guarantee the thai authorities will accept outside assistance. They are very proud people and wold prefer to leave the elephant to die of its injuries, rather than accept help from a foreigner,” said my expatriate friend.

When I arrived at the makeshift shelter in the zoo a small crowd was standing around Honey staring and talking amongst themselves. Easing my way through the onlookers I saw someone kneeling beside this heartbreakingly sad looking baby elephant, which was lying on her side. I was immediately struck by this young woman’s obvious distress. It was just her and the elephant, in a makeshift enclosure. She was talking quietly and reassuringly to Honey. Trying occasionally to tempt her to take in some liquid through eating slices of watermelon. For a few minutes I just listened and observed, wanting to say something but lost for words. Her words on the other hand, appeared soothing and reassuring to an otherwise terrified animal in extreme pain.

I had never been close to a baby elephant before, much less a severely injured one. Thoughts such as “well, what can I do now I am here?” flashed through my mind. Still not really knowing what to say, much less do, I knelt down and introduced myself to both the woman and the baby elephant. Her name was Soraida Salwala and as far as I could determine at the time she, like me, had come to see what could be done to help Honey.

Soraida, my friend had told me, had reputedly developed a bond with the baby elephant, and I could now see this for myself – the love and concern in her eyes was very apparent. I made up my mind, there and then, that I would try to help them both. Together we goaded the zoo officials into action. The first thing needed was a cover to protect Honey from the relentlessly fierce sun, which had been beating down on her un-sheltered back.

Veterinary help was, I had been told, out of the question. The owner had forbidden it and besides, the elephant was a symbol of Thailand and it had to be left to die of its own accord.  We offered to buy the elephant and therefore take responsibility for its treatment but this was flatly rejected.

No one other than Soraida and I appeared the least bit concern that Honey was in extreme pain from a broken pelvis, unable to stand and with sores where she had been left lying in one place so long. She was a pitiful sight, seemingly with just the two of us to help her.

The hours went by, we took it in turns to sit beside Honey, gently stroking her, and offering watermelon as the only way of getting liquid into her. All the while touching Honey, Soraida began to explain how this baby elephant came to so terribly injured.

“Honey was being walked alongside a busy road having earlier “performed” at an elephant football match, when she was struck by a passing lorry,” Soraida said. This was the first I had heard of elephants trained to play football, but apparently it’s a popular spectator event in some parts of Thailand.

We agreed that should contact British vets to see if anyone could advise us what we could do to ease Honey’s suffering. Leaving Soraida to continue comforting Honey, I quickly returned to the hotel and began calling everyone I knew back in England who might be able to help.

Every British zoo vet I spoke to was shocked at the extent of the elephant’s injuries. They advised us as best they could: some were even willing to come out to Bangkok, providing the Thai zoo authorities formally invited them. The zoo dismissed this offer of help and Honey’s fate looked ever more desperate. Each time I returned to Honey at the zoo, there was Soraida, providing tender loving care to her, day and night.

One last ditch effort was called for to persuade the zoo to help Honey.

(the fact unfolded later that  it was Soraida who actually brought Honey to the zoo and the owner gave her the ownership of Honey but some people refused to listen even when she wanted to take Honey back to Lampang )

I contacted the Daily Star newspaper with the story and asked for their urgent help with running a feature on how this beautiful baby elephant was being left to die in terrible pain. To their credit they not only did this, they also offered to fly Honey to England where specialist help was available. The Thai authorities were not in the least bit interested and were adamant that leaving the elephant to die was the right thing to do.

By now, though, word of Honey’s plight had begun to spread. We sensed a growing concern from the authorities. After one long and especially harrowing day Soraida said, “Mr. Whyte, may I show you my plans for an elephant hospital? I never want to see another elephant suffer like this again.”

Unrolling a set of architect drawings Soraida proceeded to explain her dream of building the world’s only elephant hospital. It became apparent that helping elephants was something she had been planning for some time. “An elephant hospital, Soraida? Will there be enough serious accidents like this to justify the expense?” I was more than a little curious to find out.

“Let me explain to you why this hospital is so desperately needed,” said Soraida. It was a grim story – one of drug abuse, law-breaking, corruption, deliberate injuries being inflicted on these magnificent animals by greedy owners, accidental injuries pulling logs from deep in the forests, the list went on. Although I’d been involved in wildlife conservation all my life and I had been to Thailand before, this news came as a shock to me.

“I don’t know how I will build the hospital, I just know it wil be built if it’s the will of God,” Soraida said. Given what I had just seen and heard, and the general attitude towards strong-willed women in Thailand, I confess I had my doubts.  Deep down, though, something was telling me Soraida would achieve her dream. We both knew she was likely to face fierce opposition, personal attacks on her integrity and a government bureaucracy that can stop all but the corrupt in their tracks.

To be continued…

Photo Credit: AP Photo/David Longstreath

July 12, 2010–According to The Washington Post, “Bangkok authorities said Monday anyone caught handing bunches of bananas or sugar cane to the hulking beasts – proffered by their handlers to make money – faces a $320 (10,000 baht) fine.”

The AP article also reported:

Thailand has about 2,400 domestic elephants. There is little demand these days for the animals’ traditional skills in logging and other labor, so owners sometimes loan them out for begging from tourists and locals in major cities.

“The ordinance is issued to prevent untidiness or danger toward properties and lives of Bangkok residents,” said Manit Techa-apichoke, deputy director of the City Law Enforcement Department, adding there had been cases of elephants hurting people and falling into drains.

Friends of the Asian Elephant, a Thai non-government group which cares for injured or mistreated elephants, called the fines a good start.

“I’ve been asking for them to do this for 15 years,” said its founder, Soraida Salwala, adding that she hoped other Thai cities would follow suit. “It’s not the total solution, but it’s a help.”

Previously, mahouts – as elephant handlers are known – and their accomplices were fined for bringing an elephant into Bangkok, but those feeding the animal escaped punishment. Typically a tourist would pay 20 baht ($0.62) for the privilege of handing a bunch of fruit or vegetables into the elephant’s trunk.

Begging street elephants are a huge problem in Thailand and other cities throughout Southeast Asia and India.  Not only do they cause a distraction and get caught in traffic accidents with humans, but city-life is horrendous for these emotional, intelligent, sensitive beings who communicate through seismic vibrations that they feel through their feet, in addition to trumpeting with their vocal cords.

Let us not forget that anyone who feeds an Asian Elephant is actually contributing to the problem of wild-capturing an endangered species (usually while they are babies, because baby elephants earn more on the street), breaking their spirits in order to “domesticate” them, and then selling them into a life of hardship, trauma, abuse and neglect, where they will be passed or sold from owner to owner for the rest of their lives.

Fining the people who feed elephants is a baby step in the right direction to protect Asian Elephants in the long-run. Once there is less demand for feeding street elephants, the owners will have to make a different choices–perhaps looking to sell their elephants to sanctuaries or even asking the Thai government to expand the The Pang-La Nursery Home for Aged Elephant, which it announced in 21 November 2009 but has so far not enforced.

You can read the rest of the Washington Post article here. As we learn more, I will share it here.  Cheers!

-Windy Borman

Director & Producer, The Eyes of Thailand

June 7, 2010–It is with a great sigh of relief that I write to share Soraida Salwala, the founder of The Friends of the Asian Elephant (FAE) Elephant Hospital featured in the documentary The Eyes of Thailand, and the elephants and staff at FAE are safe after the conflict that started in Bangkok, but spread to the Northern and Eastern provinces, finally ended. The current statistics count 89 dead and 1,884 injured.

I asked Soraida to write when she was safe and explain what she saw. On May 25, 2010, she wrote the following:

Dear Windy:

Here it is what I could think of now.

I went to Bangkok on the 12th May to attend two meetings, bank documents for the Board to sign, so I could go to the banks. However those tasks were not done at all except the documents signed. Only 20 minutes before the problems arose on the night of  13th, I called FAE staff and talked to them on the speaker to quickly call their friends or relatives in those areas to evacuate that minute. It was a tragic and horrifying for all of us. I could see smoke  and they were in air you breathed.

I was stuck in Bangkok for one whole week and in the morning of the 19th May, the military were taking over the dangerous zones, I went to the hospital to see my cardiologist and others, thinking the worse was I would be stuck at the hospital and it would better than to be on the roads. Anyway, I followed the news closely on twitter and so I decided I should leave Bangkok. I managed to get a flight out of Bangkok Airport to Chiangmai.

Those seven days were nightmares, not only to me but all residents in Bangkok and most of us Thais. I talked to the staff and greeted the elephants via phone, worked via emails, reassuring them that I was safe.But shortly after my arrival in Chiangmai, some riots there too, burning the tyres, burning the Governor’s house and etc. Smoke was in the air, curfew was announced and so I was stuck there again.

The problems are still there but the protesters were out of Bangkok, some leaders have been arrested. Some are charged with terrorism. I could not describe my feelings seeing burning buldings, almost 40 places burnt. Snipers shooting pedestrians, hand grenades were thrown, gunfires, explosions heard.

We are still under curfew, Bangkok ,Chiangmai, Lampang and other 20 or so provinces.

They will not stop until they get what they want but why destroy the buildings, kill the soldiers, kill their own people, looting shops. I am still numbed and devastated.

The elephants are fine and I am worried about what might come next. I do not wish to travel for fear that if anything happened I could not return to the north.

How sad!

Soraida

The Bangkok Post is calling for reconciliation between the Red shirts and Yellow shirts in order to preserve democracy in Thailand. Yesterday, Op-Ed writer Voranai Vanijaka wrote, “It’s either evolution from above, or revolution from below _ and we all should pray for the former, because the latter means bloodshed and anarchy _ as we have already witnessed.”

Please join me in sending your thoughts for safety and reconciliation.  I will post more as I receive news.

Sincerely,

Windy Borman

Director/Producer, “The Eyes of Thailand”

May 20, 2010–I’ve never used this blog to promote or comment on a national political situation before, but the conflict in Thailand has finally reached such a heightened state it is effecting regions outside Bangkok, including rural areas in the northeast and the northern city of Chiang Mai (about 1 hour away from FAE’s Elephant Hospital). Consequently, I feel it is time I wrote about it here.

Since mid-March, more than 65 people have been killed and more than 1,000 people have been injured, according to a Ministry of Health report. On May 15, 2010, the Huffington Post called the conflict “the most prolonged and deadliest bout of political violence that Thailand has faced in decades despite having a history of coups – 18 since it became a constitutional monarchy in 1932.”

I have not heard much from Soraida Salwala, the founder of the Friends of the Asian Elephant (FAE) Elephant Hospital, but she wrote to me on May 19, 2010 stating she had to flee Bangkok because it was on fire.

Julia Ferdinand, a Production Coordinator for The Eyes of Thailand who is based in Chiang Mai, Thailand, confirmed the fires in Bangkok and emailed me the following:

it’s a disaster area down there [in Bangkok]. more than 35 building sites have had fires. some very large buildings burnt to the ground. been following journos on the scene via twitter… the thai Prime Minister forced the line with the protesters and the military broke through the protesters barracaded encampment down in a business area of bangkok. not sure how much of this has been on the news for you.
several of the leaders of the movement turned themselves in to authorities yesterday, which sparked a backlash and fresh violence throughout the country. in 6 or so, other areas provincial gov’t halls were burnt to the ground. here in chiang mai, they set a fire on the bridge not far from my house and tried.. i don’t know how successfully to burn the govenor’s house.

we don’t know yet if there is civil war as such. it’s a little early to tell. the movement may calm down and appear at a later time.. or it might end.. too soon to tell.

chiang mai is definitely better off than bangkok. standing with the crowd of people yesterday.. all of us were shocked to see anything like it here. really dumbfounded.

As I learn more about the situation, Soraida, Julia and the elephants at FAE’s Elephant Hospital, I will let you know.

For now, please check out the following links:

Reuters AlertNet’s Conflict Time Line

The PSA Blog: As Bangkok Burns, Thailand’s Conflict Between the Red Shirts and the Abhisit Government Deepens

Newsweek: It’s not Just Red and Yellow

-Windy Borman

Director/Producer, The Eyes of Thailand

In case you thought only African Elephants needed to fear poachers and ivory dealers, please read the following excerpts from a June 18, 2009 article by Sarah Janicke:

“Thailand has consistently been identified as one of the world’s top five countries most heavily implicated in the illicit ivory trade, but shows little sign of addressing outstanding issues,” said Tom Milliken, of TRAFFIC, which oversees a global monitoring programme, the Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS), for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

While much of the ivory  is illegally imported from Africa (thus coming from African Elephants, not Asian Elephants), the ivory workshop owners reported ties to European knife makers and U.S. gun shops.  But that isn’t the only illegal trade happening in Thailand.

The study also uncovered reports of traders buying wild-caught elephant calves for use in Bangkok as “beggars” on the streets in major tourist centres, or selling them to elephant camps and entertainment parks.

Hundreds of live elephants are known to have been illegally imported from Myanmar in recent years, to be sold to elephant trekking companies catering to adventure tourism in Thailand. The capture of wild elephants has been banned in Thailand since the 1970s, but such trade usually goes undetected because domesticated elephants do not have to be registered legally until they are eight years of age.

For more information, please read the rest of the article here.

-Windy Borman

Producer, Writer and Director, The Eyes of Thailand

Soraida Salwala, founder of the Friends of the Asian Elephant (FAE) Elephant Hospital in Thailand is quoted here speaking out against the living and working conditions of Bangkok’s roaming elephants.  To read the full article, please visit:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5h8dCCi974f5uFo_JkK5B71KH6FLA

Elephant handler on the streets of Bangkok

According to this China Post article from April 25, 2009, the Thai government has tabled a proposed ban on the export of Thai Asian elephants due to the staggering decline of both domesticated and wild elephants in the country.  They currently estimate that over 200 elephants are roaming in Bangkok.

To read the full article, please visit:

http://www.chinapost.com.tw/asia/thailand/2009/04/25/205635/Thai-gov%27t.htm

Sincerely,

Windy Borman

Producer, Writer and Director, “The Eyes of Thailand”