9.7 Toward Sustainable Solutions............................
Though the use of elephants in any form of tourism-related work is condemned by
some animal rights activists to be demeaning and unnatural, Kontogeorgopoulos
(2009a,b: 3) argues that given the current absence of viable alternatives, tourism
contributes to the welfare of working elephants in Thailand in“optimal, albeit
imperfect ways”and that the promotion of more tourism, not less, is the most
realistic way to improve their welfare. It is an imperfect solution from an animal
rights perspective to keep elephants in the tourism industry, but it is argued that
their value is based on market forces, and a demand for working elephants leads to
better care and protection than would be the case if their values were to plummet
(Kontogeorgopoulos2009a,b: 10).
ASEAN Captive Elephant Working Group, a group of regional elephant spe-
cialists, veterinarians, researchers, and conservationists, called for realistic solutions
to ensure the sustainable and ethical management of captive elephants in the future
in their statement concerning the issue of captive elephant welfare and conservation
in Asia (ASEAN Captive Elephant Working Group 2015 ). Duffy and Moore ( 2011 :
596) further argue that captive working elephants are important to the long-term
conservation of elephants in Thailand because without them, the long-term survival
of the entire species would be at risk. Therefore, closing down the elephant trekking
industry greatly risks the survival of the species. This calls for a prioritization of
elephant welfare in the captive elephant population and a prioritization in the
conservation of the wild elephant population.
Elephant tourism venues in Thailand do not operate by a concern for elephant
conservation or animal welfare, which calls for a transition into more sustainable
and ethical practices that ecotourism promotes. Lair ( 1997 ) argues that the goal of
keeping all of Thailand’s captive elephants in sanctuaries will encounter severe
obstacles. Namely, they are extremely expensive to start, due to land and infras-
tructure costs, and need continued funding to maintain. He states that“there still
remains a huge monthly overhead in salaries because sanctuaries will succeed for
healthy, privately-owned elephants only if the mahouts’earnings within the sanc-
tuary equal what they can make outside.”However, several elephant sanctuaries
have emerged in Thailand that cater to the tourism industry while prioritizing the
welfare and conservation of Thailand’s captive elephants by not allowing elephant
riding or entertainment shows. A case study on Elephant Nature Park (ENF) in
Chiang Mai, an elephant sanctuary catering to the tourism industry, examined how
Western-style advocacy was implemented into the context of Thailand to pioneer
the adoption of abused domestic elephants and implement sustainable ecotourism in
Thailand (Lin 2012 ). ENF advocates a natural elephant habitat and work-free
lifestyle which challenges the traditional ideology surrounding Asian elephants in
Thailand. Through soft persuasion and cultural sensitivity, ENF was successful in
adapting ecotourism practices to the host environment gradually (Lin 2012 : 205).
ENF was effective in gradually transforming mahout’s old traditions of harsh
treatment toward elephants and educating the public (local and tourists) about
134 9 Elephants in Tourism. Sustainable and Practical Approaches...