leaves what constituted“cruelty”open to interpretation. This leads to questioning of
how the law will be enforced and how it can be effective in the case of captive
working elephants in the tourism industry (Ambrose 2015 ).
As the direct handler of elephants and their welfare, mahouts should be required
to endure a training program that promotes the welfare of elephants by educating
mahouts about their needs. The ASEAN Captive Elephant Working Group ( 2015 )
recommends that“modern techniques of animal training should be developed and
introduced gradually to adjust or supplement those traditional training and handling
practices that cause severe discomfort and suffering.”
Western or international NGOs and national NGOs serve an important role in
raising awareness for animal welfare in Thailand’s tourism industry, educating the
public about elephant conservation and raising demands for ecotourism. The
cooperation among national NGOs is also crucial for advancing the interests of
domesticated elephants in Thailand. Kontogeorgopoulos (2009a,b: 16) notes that
there are at least 12 national organizations focusing on the problems faced by
domesticated or wild elephants and that there is a lack of coordination and coop-
eration between these organizations as a result of personal rivalry or divergent
beliefs on strategy.
Additionally, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) should endorse elephant
camps that are deemed more professional and ethical in terms of human resource
management and animal welfare. This would add additional incentive for camps to
operate in ways beneficial to elephants (Kontogeorgopoulos2009a,b:16–17) and
would take the necessary steps into the direction of ecotourism.
9.8 Concluding Remarks..................................
From an animal rights perspective, the use of captive elephants or any animal in
tourism should be abolished, but this is impractical given the current situation:
There are more captive elephants than wild, captive elephants cannot adapt to the
wild, and there is not enough protected land for all of Thailand’s captive elephants.
In addition, elephants have a utilitarian value in Thai culture meaning that their
welfare is determined by their economic value and their economic value is
dependent on their demand in tourism. A compromise has to be made in order to
prioritize the welfare of elephants in captivity and to prioritize the conservation of
the wild population. A solution that maintains their economic value in the tourism
industry and prioritizes their welfare are ecotourist sanctuaries where elephants are
allowed to display their natural behaviors without giving rides to tourists or per-
forming in entertainment shows.
This is the end goal for captive elephants in Thailand. However, actions that
need to be taken toward those goals need to be practical given the current situation.
Immediate actions must be taken by the government to govern captive elephants
and wild elephants under the same law and to prevent the continuation of the live
elephant trade; all captive elephants must be registered and accounted for to monitor
136 9 Elephants in Tourism. Sustainable and Practical Approaches...