Posts Tagged ‘Burma’

Landmine claims new elephant victim on the 10th anniversary of 9/11

Monday, September 12th, 2011

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

While most of the United States was busy marking the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, half a world away, an endangered Asian Elephant suffered a brutal reminder of the ongoing war raging in Burma (Myanmar).

San Francisco, CA – September 13, 2011 – On Sunday, September 11, 2011, the Friends of the Asian Elephant (FAE) Hospital, the World’s First Elephant Hospital, located in Lampang, Thailand, received word that PaHaePo, a Thai male elephant, stepped on a landmine across the border in Burma.

After being stranded by high tides and stuck behind fallen trees from heavy rains, PaHaePo arrived at FAE late at night on September 12, 2011. He joins four other elephant landmine victims being treated at FAE’s Elephant Hospital. All five sustained their injuries in August or September, when heavy rainfall encourages low-lying greenery to take over mountainous trails used for logging and transport between villages–and rebel camps. Burma is the only country actively using landmines in its on-going civil war and no one knows whether government or rebel forces planted the landmines.

Soraida Salwala estimates that over 90 elephants have stepped on landmines since she opened FAE in 1993. Many died before they could receive treatment, and FAE has treated 15, rehabilitating four to date. Motala and Mosha, who stepped on landmines in 1999 and 2006, respectively, are permanent residents at FAE and walk with the assistance of the world’s first elephant-sized prostheses. These amazing feats of perseverance and ingenuity are documented in the feature-length documentary, “The Eyes of Thailand” <http://eyesofthailand.com>, Directed and Produced by Windy Borman and Produced by award-winning producer Tim VandeSteeg. “The Eyes of Thailand” is currently in the Post-production phase and scheduled to premiere in early 2012.

While filming “The Eyes of Thailand” in 2010, two new elephant landmine victims arrived at FAE. After 12 months, Boonmee’s foot is still not fully healed, but Maekapae’s has healed enough that her owner checked her out of the hospital the day after PaHaePo arrived.

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Contact: Windy Borman | windy@dvaproductions.com

Director & Producer, “The Eyes of Thailand”

Breaking News: FAE attempts to rescue new elephant landmine victim

Monday, September 12th, 2011

Soraida Salwala, the Founder for the Friends of the Asian Elephant (FAE) Hospital, sent the following email:

On Sunday morning (11th September, 2011)  Dr. Preecha called me to inform that a Sidor, a male [elephant] without tusk, stepped on a landmine in Burma.

I had to give out orders that every step of our rescue to be taken cautiously. The tide was high, rain was heavy and the elephant could not cross the river back. Somehow he could cross back later in the day but there was no truck available because it was Sunday. How unfortunate!

Why was our mission had not been told to the public? it is simple because there has been many cases in the past that the patients we were expecting did not turn up at FAE and we learned later that they were either not well taken care of or died.

So, our goal is to minimize the pains of this elephant as soon as possible and cure him.

This morning the truck went into the forest but was blocked by the trees that fell down from the rainstorm yesterday and it is still raining until now. So, our volunteers had to chop all those trees and reached the elephant. He got on the truck at 11.10 a.m. 12th September, 2011.

I was worried when I did not hear any report as to where they were and how far they had covered but of course it was near the border, there was no signal or low. By  mid afternoon we learned that the truck got block by the landslide on the mountain still in Tak Province, 4 hours !

The volunteer had to walk long distance to search for mobile signal to call our vet.

By 4.30 p.m. they could move. I was worried PaHaePo, the elephant, would be in great pain, so I asked Dr. Preecha to contact a livestock vet. The truck stopped at the Checkpoint so the vet could give him the painkiller and have him rest there for awhile.

6.35 p.m. the truck has started over 3 hours drive to FAE.

I have informed the Police Spokesman who has kindly asked for the plate number and  the patrol police will help clear the traffic on the highway.

Thanks to all involved.

Hope PaHaePo will arrive safely. The injuries, as I am told, are less severe than Boonmee and Maekapae, but we’ll see.

At the moment, there’s no electricity at FAE, it’s been raining there.


Soraida Salwala
Founder & Secretary General
Friends of the Asian Elephant

We will post updates and photos as they come in.

Sincerely,

Windy Borman
Director/Producer, “The Eyes of Thailand

2010 Landmine Monitor Released

Thursday, January 6th, 2011

The Monitor released its twelfth annual Landmine Monitor report globally on November 24, 2010 during a press conference in Geneva. Landmine Monitor 2010 provides a summary and analysis of developments in 2009 and the first portion of 2010 related to mine ban policy (policy, use, production, trade, and stockpiling), mine action, casualties and victim assistance, and support for mine action. Starting in 2010, online Country Profiles have replaced the country reports in the Landmine Monitor Annual Report. The online Country Profiles provide information on every country in the world, and can be found on the Monitor website here.

Below are some reports “by the numbers”:

  • Thailand- 18 reported human casualties in 2009.
  • Burma (Myanmar)- 262 reported human casualties in 2009, plus two elephants stepped on landmines and were transported to FAE’s Elephant Hospital (this didn’t make the report).
  • United States- 37 US soldiers were killed by improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Iraq and 132 in Afghanistan in 2009. In 2009 the United States contributed US$118,703,831 to 29 countries and four other areas for clearance, victim assistance, risk education, and to three institutions engaged in victim assistance activities globally.

Despite these grim numbers, The Monitor is calling 2009 a “year of record-breaking progress for the Mine Ban Treaty”:

Geneva, 24 November 2010 – Record-breaking progress in implementing the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty was made in 2009. Use and production of the weapon, as well as casualty rates, were the lowest on record, while more contaminated land was cleared than ever before according to Landmine Monitor 2010, released today at the United Nations.

In 2009, 3,956 new landmine and explosive remnants of war (ERW) casualties were recorded, the lowest number for any year since the Monitor began reporting in 1999. The Monitor removed Nepal from its list of mine producers, leaving a dozen countries on the list, of which as few as three are believed to continue to actively manufacture antipersonnel mines (India, Myanmar, and Pakistan). For the first time the Monitor did not list Russia as a mine user, leaving Myanmar as the only government confirmed as using mines in 2009–2010.

Read full story here.

The printed Landmine Monitor report synthesizes data from the Country Profiles in order to provide a global overview and highlight issues of special concern. Hard copies of the 65-page report may be ordered online. The full report is also available electronically on the Monitor website and downloadable in PDF and e-book formats.

Photos, taken by Mary Wareham/HRW, from the Landmine Monitor 2010 launch in Geneva are now available to view online here.

Let’s make 2011 another record-breaking year for landmine and cluster munition removal!

-Windy Borman

Director/Producer, The Eyes of Thailand

Day Three: The aftermath of elephant landmine accidents

Wednesday, November 3rd, 2010

Soraida encourages Motala, a 49-year old elephant landmine survivor, to put her weight on her prosthesis at FAE's Elephant Hospital.

Today the Prostheses Foundation returned with the new “tester” prosthesis for Motala.  Initially it looked like the shank of the limb was too short because Motala was swinging her leg without putting any weight on it. After Soraida Salwala (FAE’s Founder) spoke to her, she began to relax her elbow and put some weight on the prosthesis.  The leg was then long enough to reach the ground, so it appears she was avoiding it because it was uncomfortable.

As Dr. Preecha said, “If she was a person we could ask, ‘How does that feel?’ But she’s not, so we have to watch her behavior. If she was in pain, she wouldn’t move at all; but this shows us that the prosthesis is just uncomfortable”. Soraida believes that the leg could still be inflamed and the “tester” is too tight. So, the prosthesis is on its way back to Chiang Mai for more adjustments…

Dr. Kay cleans Boonmee's wound at FAE. Boonmee stepped on a landmine on September 11, 2010.

In other news, yesterday we saw a huge improvement in Boonmee.  While her wound looked better, by the end of the day her trunk was too weak to pick up her bananas to feed herself. Soraida tearfully explained that she has seen this before and is very worried that Boonmee may simply give up and decide to pass away.  Dr. Preecha explained that last month Mae Ka Pae’s leg looked as bad as Boonmee’s does now, so if she can stay alive, he’s optimistic her leg will heal, too. As we left for the evening, Soraida said, “I’m hoping for a miracle”.

I drove back to Chiang Mai with mixed emotions. On the one hand, Boonmee can decide whether she wants to fight and continue to live, or she can decide it’s too much and pass on. As humans, we like to think we have control over everything—the environment, other beings, our lives—but that argument is thrown out for me in light of these elephant landmine tragedies. They didn’t decide to step on a landmine. Boonmee, Motala, Mosha and Mae Ka Pae were in the forests because of human greed and the landmines were in the ground because of human fear and ego. They didn’t ask to be mutilated, we [humans] did this. So perhaps the most humane choice we can give them is whether they want to stay and fight or, as the Buddhist believe, leave and come back with a different life circumstance.

It will be interesting to see what Boonmee decides tonight…

-Windy Borman

Director/Producer, The Eyes of Thailand

A tear drips down Boonmee's cheek.

Day Two: Playfulness & Healing at FAE

Monday, November 1st, 2010

Prostheses Foundation staff take a sand cast of Motala's leg for a new prosthetic.

Today the Prostheses Foundation returned to the Friends of the Asian Elephant (FAE) Elephant Hospital to remake Motala’s prosthesis.  This will be the elephant landmine survivor’s fourth prosthetic limb since August 2009 when I filmed her taking her first steps on four legs since stepping on a landmine on the Thai-Myanmar border in 1999.

Mae Ka Pae rests her healing hind foot.

While the staff began the two-day process of sand-casting, molding and welding, the T-Touch volunteers continued working on Mosha, Boonmee and Mae Ka Pae, the three other landmine survivors at FAE. Just look at the difference in Boonmee and Mosha after two days of craniosacral therapy and T-Touch!

Boonmee on November 1, 2010

John and Somchai perform T-Touch while Dr. Preecha watches.

But it wasn’t all work. FAE also has three baby elephants—Dante, Veto and Champoo (which means “pink” in Thai)—and their mothers at the hospital.

Kamnoi and Dante stroll in the sun.

Baby Dante says "Sawadee kop"

Stay tuned for pictures from the second day of prostheses building!

Elephant Size Hugs to Jodi Frediani for sharing her beautiful photos of the elephants at FAE.

Best,

Windy Borman

Director/Producer, The Eyes of Thailand

ELEPHANTS LOSE LIMBS AND LIVES IN THAILAND

Friday, October 8th, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact Name: Windy Borman

Email: windy@dvaproductions.com

ELEPHANTS LOSE LIMBS AND LIVES IN THAILAND

Award-winning Filmmakers’ fight for Elephant Landmine Survivors in new shocking documentary, “The Eyes of Thailand”, takes them to the International Convention to Ban Landmines in Laos

San Francisco, CA – October 8, 2010 – D.V.A. Productions, in association with Indiewood Pictures, currently in production on the powerful feature-length documentary film, The Eyes of Thailand, about the plight of Asian Elephants grossly injured and disfigured from stepping on forgotten landmines buried along the Thai-Myanmar border, will attend and film November’s International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL)’s Youth Leaders Forum in Vientiane, Laos. The ICBL is a 1997 Nobel Peace Prize Co-Laureate responsible for bringing about the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty. The film is directed and produced by Windy Borman, who started the film three years ago, and produced by Tim VandeSteeg, who recently produced the award-winning documentary, My Run, narrated by Billy Bob Thornton.  What The Cove was for dolphins, The Eyes of Thailand is for elephants,” said Borman.

Borman is scheduled to return to the Friends of the Asian Elephant (FAE) Elephant Hospital outside of Lampang, Thailand, where two widely publicized and recently injured elephants have been transported and are being treated for landmine accidents. It is this hospital and the work of its courageous founder, Soraida Salwala, that originally attracted Borman to the subject and launched her effort to capture the story in The Eyes of Thailand, a film set to be released in 2011.

This trip represents the final chapter since Borman’s last film shoot in August 2009, when she traveled to Thailand to film Motala, a 48-year old elephant landmine survivor, take her first step on her new prosthetic limb. Building Motala’s prosthesis was a 10-year quest for FAE’s founder, Soraida Salwala, and Dr. Therdchai Jivacate, Associate Professor of Thailand’s Prostheses Foundation. Motala arrived at FAE after stepping on a landmine along the Thai-Myanmar border in August 1999. It wasn’t until a baby elephant landmine survivor arrived at FAE in 2006 that they thought they could build prostheses to help the elephants walk again. Motala took her first steps on her prosthesis on August 16, 2009.

Unfortunately, on August 4, 2010, Mae Ka Pae arrived at FAE’s Elephant Hospital after stepping on a landmine along the Thai-Myanmar border.  One month later, Boonmee, stepped on a landmine and was transported to FAE.

According to Yeshua Moser-Puanguswan of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, “Thailand is a state party to the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty and is clearing mines from its territory, mostly along its border with Cambodia. All of the elephants at the FAE hospital come from doing illegal logging in Burma, which has not joined the treaty and is the only country in the world today where landmines are being used on a widespread basis.”

“The anniversary of Motala taking her first steps on a prosthesis is bittersweet”, said Borman. “We need a film that can crack our collective consciousness and demand all nations sign and enforce the Mine Ban Treaty.  I hope The Eyes of Thailand can do that.”

Website: http://eyesofthailand.com

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/eyesofthailand

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/eyesofthailand

Bittersweet Anniversary of Elephant Landmine Survivor’s First Steps

Monday, August 16th, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Bittersweet Anniversary of Elephant Landmine Survivor’s First Steps

San Francisco, CA – August 16, 2010 – One year ago documentary filmmaker Windy Borman recorded the step heard round the world.  After 10 years of surgery and rehabilitation, Motala, a 48-year old elephant landmine survivor at the Friends of the Asian Elephant (FAE) Elephant Hospital outside of Lampang, Thailand, took her first step on her new prosthetic limb.

Building Motala’s prosthesis was a 10-year quest for FAE’s founder, Soraida Salwala, and Dr. Therdchai Jivacate, Associate Professor of Thailand’s Prostheses Foundation. Motala arrived at FAE after stepping on a landmine along the Thai-Myanmar border in August 1999, but it wasn’t until Baby Mosha, another elephant landmine survivor, arrived at FAE in 2006 that they thought they could build prostheses to help the elephants walk again.

“I first met Soraida, Motala and Baby Mosha in 2007 while I was filming in Northern Thailand,” says Borman. “I knew landmines posed a threat to humans, but I had no idea endangered species, such as Asian Elephants, were stepping on them.  At that moment I knew I needed to do something, and since I’m a filmmaker that meant I’d found my next documentary project”.

Over the next two years, Salwala and Borman stayed in touch about the elephants’ progress.  Then, on July 31, 2009, Salwala sent an email that changed everything.  “She wrote, Motala’s getting her leg in 2 weeks.  Can you be here to film it?” remembers Borman. “I said, yes, and then called everyone in my cell phone, emailed everyone I knew and blasted it all over Facebook.  By the end of the weekend, through donations and airline mile contributions, I’d raised enough money to buy my ticket back to Thailand.”

Using the sand casting system developed by Dr. Yeongchi Wu of the Center for International Rehabilitation (CIR), Dr. Jivacate made a prosthesis for Baby Mosha in 2008. It supported her weight and she accepted it quickly, which gave Salwala hope that they could use the same technology for Motala.

“Filming the two-day building process was like watching an episode of Myth Busters,” says Borman. “I was amazed by the technical process, but there was a lot of anxiety as to whether Motala would accept the prosthetic or if it could even hold her weight.”

“An adult Asian Elephant weighs about 3 tons,” explains Borman, “and two-thirds of their body weight is on the front of their body.  Since Motala is missing her front left leg, they needed to build a prosthesis that could hold approximately 2 tons when she walked.  And what were they using to build it? Modified car parts, mainly.”

After two days of molding, welding, sanding and adjusting, the Prostheses Foundation was finally ready for Motala to try on her new prosthesis.  Watching Motala take her first steps, Salwala says, “My heart is larger than it was. Everyone is happy, especially Motala herself”.

“Seeing Motala walk on her own four legs was one of the most memorable moments of my life.  It’s a somewhat happy ending to the on-going problem of landmines in Southeast Asia and the rest of the world,” says Borman.

According to the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, 37 countries have refused to sign the Mine Ban Treaty, which requires signatories to de-mine their country and destroy their landmine stockpiles. Myanmar (Burma) is one of the countries that has refused to sign the treaty. The United States is another.

On August 4, 2010, another elephant landmine survivor, 22-year old Mae Ka Pae, arrived at FAE’s Elephant Hospital after stepping on a landmine along the Thai-Myanmar border.  She makes the 13th elephant landmine victim to be treated at FAE since it opened in 1993, but there are countless other animal landmine victims that go unreported and untreated because they usually occur in the rural, mountainous borders between countries or territories.

“The anniversary of Motala taking her first steps on a prosthesis is bittersweet”, said Borman.  “It reminds us how far we’ve come, but the news of Mae Ka Pae stepping on a landmine reminds us how far we still need to go to eradicate the threat of landmines for all species.”

“We cannot let animals or humans suffer any longer because of landmines,” says Borman.  “We need a film that can crack our collective consciousness and demand all nations sign and enforce the Mine Ban Treaty.  I hope my film, The Eyes of Thailand, can do that.”

The Eyes of Thailand is the inspirational story of Soraida Salwala’s quest to help two elephant landmine survivors—Motala and Baby Mosha—walk on their own four legs. Treating their wounds was only part of the journey; building elephant-sized prostheses was another. Directed and Produced by Windy Borman. Produced by Tim VandeSteeg.

The Eyes of Thailand is currently in post-production with plans to release in 2011. To view the trailer, please visit http://eyesofthailand.com

Contact:

Windy Borman

windy@dvaproductions.com

Director & Producer, The Eyes of Thailand

D.V.A. Productions

PO Box 420395

San Francisco, CA 94142 USA

Links:

The Eyes of Thailand website: http://www.eyesofthailand.com

FAE’s website: http://www.elephant-soraida.com/index.php/en/

Mine Ban Treaty: http://www.icbl.org/index.php/icbl/Treaties

Unsigned States: http://www.icbl.org/index.php/icbl/Universal/MBT/States-Not-Party

CIR Network: http://www.cirnetwork.org/

FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/eyesofthailand

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/eyesofthailand

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Elephant Hospital treats elephant landmine survivor

Thursday, August 5th, 2010

August 5, 2010–Yesterday I shared that Mae Ka Pae, a 22-year old elephant, who stepped on a landmine along the Thai-Burma border, arrived at the Friends of the Asian Elephant (FAE) Elephant Hospital in Lampang, Thailand. Below is an update from the Associate Press:

Vets treat elephant land mine victim in Thailand

(AP) – 10 hours ago

LAMPANG, Thailand — Veterinarians were treating the latest land mine victim from the Thai-Myanmar border Thursday, a 22-year-old female elephant whose foot was severely wounded by the explosion.

Mae Ka Pae, as she is called, is the 13th mine casualty to be treated at the innovative Friends of Asian Elephant hospital near this city in northern Thailand since it began operating in 1993. She arrived at the facility Wednesday evening, a week after the accident, which shredded the sole of her left rear foot.

“We have to monitor her condition for 48 hours now that we cleaned the wound and injected pain killers. We will give her a tetanus shot later today. Overall, she is a good condition. She is obedient and can eat normally,” said Dr. Preecha Phuangkam, a veterinarian and the hospital director.

The elephant was injured at the frontier, which is strewn with land mines from fighting between the Myanmar government and ethnic minority rebels. Preecha said her handlers might have let her wander to the less-developed Myanmar side of the border to find food.

She joins two other elephants, Motala and Mosha, who remain hospitalized but have recovered well enough to wear prosthetic legs. Mosha became the world’s first elephant with an artificial leg, attached in 2007.

Traditionally the truck, taxi and logging worker of Thailand, the elephant has lost most of its jobs to modernization. However, the tourism industry still employs large numbers of elephants for trekking and other activities. Some, including a number along the Myanmar border, are still used in illegal logging operations.

The question people keep asking me is: Don’t we have the technology to detect and remove landmines?

To answer simply, Yes, we do have the technology to detect and safely remove landmines; but human Ego keeps countries from making the right choice and protecting their own people and wildlife from these hidden killers.

To date, 37 countries have still refused to sign the Mine Ban Treaty, which requires signatories to de-mine their country and destroy their landmine stockpiles. Myanmar (Burma) is one of the countries who’ve refused to sign the treaty,  the United States is another. To view the full list click here.

We cannot let animals and humans suffer because of landmines.  We need a film that can crack our collective consciousness and demand all nations sign and enforce the Mine Ban Treaty!

I firmly believe that The Eyes of Thailand is just the film to do this and we can make this dream a reality with your help! You can help by making a tax-deductible donation to the film through our fiscal sponsor, the San Francisco Film Society, so that we can edit and distribute the The Eyes of Thailand in 2011. Click here to donate.

Thank you for your continued support. Together we can tell the world about the plight of the Asian Elephants and the on-going threat of landmines!

Sincerely,

Windy Borman

Director & Producer, The Eyes of Thailand

“The Eyes of Thailand” is the inspirational story of one woman’s quest to help two elephant landmine survivors–Motala and Baby Mosha–walk on their own four legs. Treating their wounds was only part of the journey; building elephant-sized prostheses was another. Directed and Produced by Windy Borman. Produced by Tim VandeSteeg.

FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/eyesofthailand
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/eyesofthailand
Website: http://www.eyesofthailand.com

Rare white elephant captured in Myanmar

Tuesday, June 29th, 2010

Photo Credit: Associated Press

June 29, 2010– Below is an excerpt from the Shanghai Daily:

A RARE white elephant has been captured in the jungles of Myanmar, a mostly Buddhist country where the animals are considered good omens, state media reported yesterday.

Forestry officials found the animal on Saturday, acting on a tip, in the jungles of Maungdaw township in northwestern Rakhine state, the New Light of Myanmar reported. It described the elephant as about 38 years old and 2.2 meters tall.

White elephants, actually albinos, have for centuries been revered in Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and other Asian nations. They were normally kept by monarchs and considered a symbol of royal power and prosperity.

The elephants are not necessarily white. They can look similar to other elephants except for certain features like fair eyelashes and toenails, light-colored hair or a reddish hue to the skin [see above].

The newspaper did not say where the elephant would be housed. It will be the fourth white elephant held in captivity in Myanmar. The three others are at Mindhamma Hill park, Yangon, where they live in an enclosure with a man-made waterfall, ponds, trees and vegetation.

Soraida Salwala, of the Thailand-based Friends of the Asian Elephant Foundation, said the group normally objects to placing elephants in captivity but stopped short of criticizing the capture of white elephants. In Thailand, all white elephants are traditionally handed over to the country’s revered king.

“The white elephant is a sign of great blessings and fortune for the land,” she said, adding that traditional Myanmar and Thai beliefs are similar on the subject.

Lavish ceremonies have been held in the past for white elephants. Myanmar’s leaders usually sprinkle them with scented water laced with gold, silver and precious gems.

A war was fought in the 16th century between Thailand and Myanmar, then Siam and Burma respectively, over disputed ownership of four white elephants.

Read more, click here.
To learn more about Soraida and the work she does at the Friends of the Asian Elephant (FAE) Elephant Hospital in Lampang, Thailand, please visit http://eyesofthailand.com
Thank you,
Windy Borman
Director & Producer, The Eyes of Thailand

Production Day 7: Northern Thailand and Myanmar

Thursday, August 20th, 2009

Today I joined my friend, Peter, on a trip to Northern Thailand.  We stopped along the highway so I could film the scenic spots (i.e. rice patties at the base of mountains) and eventually made it to Mae Sai, the northern-most city in Thailand, bordering Myanmar (Burma) and part of the once notorious Golden Triangle.  Mae Sai had an interesting mix between Thai, Burmese, Chinese and English, as evidenced by the sign below and the Chinese style temple.

Store Sign in Mae Sai in Thai, English, Chinese and Burmese.

Store Sign in Mae Sai in Thai, English, Chinese and Burmese.

We crossed the border into Myanmar—which was quite an experience—and I bought a jade elephant and two Taiwanese style teacups, since one of mine broke this year.  Upon crossing back into Thailand, we did more jade shopping and I learned to feel the vibration of “live jade” and how to look for the Imperial Jade color.

On our drive back to Chiang Mai, we stopped at the Chinese cultural studies building at Mae Fah Luang University, which is a perfect example of feng shui architecture and landscape, and had dinner at a delicious hole-in-the-wall restaurant in Chiang Rai.

Outside the restaurant, not one—but 2—street elephants walked by.  The first looked about 4-years old and was playful and attentive when tourists and locals feed him, despite the elephant keeper’s bull hook poking into his ear on the side away from the feeders.  The second was only about 2-years old and his elephant keeper was cruel.  He pulled his ears and refused to let anyone feed it bananas, only the sugar cane stalks he was selling.  When the elephant took a banana Peter had in his hand, the keeper hit the elephant on the head with the sharp end of his bull hook and pulled him away!

I filmed both of these instances, including when we drove by the elephant and Peter threw the bunch of bananas for the elephant to eat.  I don’t know if the last part will make it into the film, but it was both good for documentary and hard to witness the elephants being so mistreated.  Especially considering that these young elephants were most likely wild-caught, meaning they were captured, had to watch their mothers die to protect them, and then endured more pain and hardship until they were “broken” into being street elephants.  If they survive until their 7th birthdays, they will receive their “license” (sort of like the title for a car) and then they can be traded, sold, purchased, exported at the whim of their owners.  This will continue for the rest of their lives, which can be up to 80 years old.

It’s a sad reality for an animal that is supposed to be the revered symbol of its country.

-Windy Borman
Producer, Writer and Director, The Eyes of Thailand

P.S. You can support the documentary production by making a tax-deductible donation through the film’s fiscal sponsor, the San Francisco Film Society, by clicking here.  Thank you!