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Help put an end to street begging elephants

People come to Thailand for many things, but one of the most popular is to see the country’s most revered animal — the Asian elephant.

Sadly, elephants in Thailand are considered livestock and therefore have no rights. Although outlawed in most of the country a few years ago, street begging elephants can still be found.

Elephant in Thailand

Among the throngs of people, a baby elephant is found begging for food.

Recently, street begging elephants have been sighted everywhere from the outskirts of Bangkok to the busy streets of Chiang Mai.

The street is no place for an elephant.

Many of the elephants you see on the street have been taken away from their mothers when they are too young to be weened. They work day and night, standing on the side of the road waiting for passersby to purchase food from their owner so they can have a bite to eat. They suffer from hunger, thirst and, often times, injuries from their mahout, life on the street and cars.

Bull hook injury to elephant in Thailand

This baby has been bludgeoned numerous times from her mahout’s bull hook.

If you see a street begging elephant, please do not buy food from the mahout to feed it. Instead, take a photo and note the location and send it to us. By not purchasing food or supporting these elephants, you can help send a message to this industry that taking babies from their mothers and forcing them to a condemned life on the street is not a profitable choice. We have programs like Journey to Freedom which provide mahouts with an income without having to exploit their elephants. Please, help us to spread the word and to keep street begging elephants off of the streets and into better lives.

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This Post Has 19 Comments

  4. HORRORS! Boycott Thailand. It used to be the land of ten thousand of elephants, BUT no more!!!!!

    1. We don’t want tourists to boycott Thailand in their travel plans. Instead, we urge tourists to boycott activities and attractions that harm elephants, and support organizations like ours that work to improve the situation for Asian elephants. Tourists have the strongest voice when it comes to demanding changes in the tourism industry!

  5. I saw so many young street-begging elephants when I visited the Surin Elephant Roundup. It made me absolutely sick and unbelievably sad.

  6. This needs to stop now! Lookat how malnurished that baby ele is. No good can come from having elephants beg for you. NONE!

    2. These are very hard images to look at. The best thing you can do is help to eliminate future images like this by educating people you know not to support street begging.

  8. I had no idea this was happening. Poor little babies should be with their mamas running free and doing baby stuff…

  9. Kindly help those elephants and they really need help. SAVE ELEPHANTS,THEY ARE ALSO THE CHILDREN OF OUR MOTHER NATURE.

  11. We just had a confrontation with one of these beggers at kata beach phuket. It made me sick… These ppl should be chained up themselves android to do tricks for food.. I had WORDS with th mahout and he just taunted me. I had to leave. So sad. Poor baby elephant street begging at 9pm next to a disco… So wrong.

    1. Sadly, this is the life of elephant in Thailand. In many places in SE Asia, getting into disputes with mahouts — as you discovered — does not generally get very far. This is a profitable way of life or them and as long as people continue to give them attention, they will continue to do this work. The best thing you can do is send as much love as you can to the elephant, walk away without giving money, and in a non-confrontational way, explain to others why you don’t support it. Educating others is the most powerful tool we have.

  12. heartbreaking I cant believe what these poor babies are being put thru its so cruel. is there nothing anybody can do. it should nt be allowed wish the mahouts could be whipped with a hook and chained up all day and night. so cruel makes me cry

  13. Hi,
    You people are doing great work. Kudos to you for that! I read in newspaper that baby elephants are captured by ignorant and angry villagers and are chained to a tree without food or water. These ignorants from Sumatra, says that elephants destroyed their cultivation which is in the middle of forest. A baby elephant called Raja was chained and he passed away but still is tied to the tree. These ignorant again caught some more baby elephants and they are abusing them. Is there any way you can help them and also I saw people in Surin training baby elephants cruelly. In a video the trainer hit him so bad using bullock and he was bleeding all over. Kindly can you please try to stop this cruelty and do something to make people stop giving money to these mahout and stop these cruel training https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aq7yoKGGks8 Please save these elephants too! They are so little and they badly need help! They are just another living beings like humans we have no right to tame them! Please save them!
    Thanks and sincerely appreciate your great work!

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