Two beheaded, clinics attacked in Thailand

Posted Fri Aug 10, 2007 0:00am AEST

Two Buddhist health workers have been gunned down in a clinic in Thailand's restive south, while two others were beheaded in a grisly killing spree blamed on separatist rebels, police say.

Three other people have been killed in shooting attacks around the Muslim-majority region bordering Malaysia, in the latest sign of intensifying violence this month.

The attacks came as authorities stepped up a crackdown on separatists in the region where more than 2,400 people have been killed and thousands more wounded since the unrest broke out in January 2004.

The two health workers were killed inside a clinic in Pattani province late on Wednesday (local time), when militants stormed into the building and shot them at their desks, police said.

Authorities shut down 15 nearby clinics in response and could not say when they would reopen.

Separatist rebels also torched two schools in Pattani, gutting the buildings early on Thursday.

Rebels often attack government schools as they are seen as symbols of Thailand's attempt to impose Buddhist Thai culture on the Muslim-majority region.

Meanwhile, militants have beheaded two elderly Buddhists inside their homes in Pattani and then set the houses on fire, police say.

The charred remains of the headless bodies were found early on Thursday.

In nearby Narathiwat province, three people including a soldier were killed in separate shootings.

The restive region was once an autonomous Malay sultanate until Buddhist Thailand annexed it a century ago. Separatist violence has flared periodically ever since.

After the military seized power in Thailand last September, the post-coup Government offered a series of olive branches to the militants but the unrest has only worsened.

This year the Government has boosted military spending and deployed more security forces as part of a tougher approach to tackling the militants.

More than 200 people are being held at army bases around the region as part of the Government's latest crackdown.

- AFP

The Story of Boon Rod - a begging elephant

"By Lek Chailert" 20 Jul 2005

When the sun sets birds fly back home to their nests and land animals find their way back home. For elephants it is meant as a time for rest, a time to be with their families. For Boon Rod nighttime was a nightmare.

Night time was just the time for her to start work. Every night her mahout, and two other helpers, take her from a garbage dump where she stays during the day to trudge the hot streets of the city. They take her to walk the streets from 6 pm until the pubs and bars close down. Sometimes she works until 5 am in the morning. She take a short nap, leaning her weary head against electric poles, to catch whatever sleep she can while her mahout has his supper.

Boon Rod came from the Northeast of Thailand. Her mahout take her to beg in the streets. She started as an infant and has worked every day since. She is now 6 years old . Her fate is the same as the other street elephants in Thailand. Boon Rod never had the chance to live any other kind of life. Her mahout rents her from an elephant owner and takes her to work each night, like a money making machine.

After the Thai government enacted policy to stop street elephants and push them out from Bangkok the mahouts found it hard to make a living there. With more than 200 elephant working along the streets throughout Thailand they needed new locations and soon began looking for new destinations across the country. Chiang Mai was one of their favoured destinations. The city, with visitors from throughout the country and overseas, was deemed a good place to make money. Since early 2005 Boon Rod's trudged the streets of Chiang Mai. She worked with no time off. On the night of the 18th of July, as usual, she was forced out into the night streets with her group. Together they sell bags of bananas and beg money from tourists.

Suddenly a car came from behind her and out stepped the police. They want to arrest the mahout because it is illegal to take an elephant to work in the city. The mahout, expecting a normal night was unprepared for this. He climbed on her neck and used the hook to force Boon Rod to run from the police. The hook hit hard at her head and scraped behind her ears as he furiously urged her to run from the police car. The siren sound and flashing lights from the car confused and startled her. Finally the mahout gave up, jumped from her neck and ran, leaving her alone and helpless on the street. Without the directions from her mahout, and on a strange highway road, she lost control. She ran out into the busy traffic, hitting a motorcycle, a car and a post box. She ran through a busy street-side restaurant, overturning tables and chairs creating chaos wherever she went. It was now 11pm. Five hours had passed, and the police did not know how to handle her. They contacted Elephant Nature Park and Chom, one of our mahouts who was in Chiang Mai at the time, went to calm her down. At the scene many people lodged claims for loss and damage of their property. The glared at Boon Rod and were very angry that she had caused so much damage to their property. Boon Rod stood shaking nervously with tears rolling down her cheeks. She was alone, confused, afraid and in front of hundreds of angry strangers. Blood ran from wounds behind her ears where the mahout has been stabbing her with his hook as they tried to escape the police.

If she could express herself they would hear the pain from the bottom of her heart. After she was arrested the police agreed to send her to our park until the mahout, or the owner, paid a fine and for the damage.

On the way to the park she had to go to the police station where a picture was taken for police records. At the park she was welcomed by the herd. The mother and elder female elephants gave her their unconditional love. She loves to swim in the river with two young male elephants who have become her friends. Hope and Jungle boy are a similar age to her. Later she saw our new baby elephant and she has become a sister. Mae Bua Thong and three nanny elephants accept her as a new herd member. She so happy to taste the freedom of the park, the first freedom of her life.

Source: http://www.elephantnaturepark.org/news/0507c.htm

STREET ELEPHANTS in Thailand

Any charity involved with the conservation and welfare of Asian elephants has to recognise the importance of the issue of street elephants. The plight of elephants forced to live and work in urban areas is one in which EleAid has been involved since our inception. We first became involved in the issue with our 2003 Bring the Elephants Home Campaign and as a result our first three elephants were all rescued from suffering on city streets

What is a Street Elephant?

Street elephants are forced by their owners to live and work in an urban environment. The owner or handler makes money by forcing the elephants to perform tricks for people’s entertainment. They also sell over priced bananas or other fruit to passers by so they may feed the animals.
Often, but not always, the targets for the street-begging mahouts are western tourists. The exotic sight of an elephant in a city environment is beguiling to people on holiday and they are often ready to spend a few pounds to interact with elephants. However most of them are completely unaware of the depths of the suffering of these unfortunate animals. Street elephants are particularly common in Thailand and India but can be found in other cities throughout Asia.

Why do the Elephants Work the Streets?

The mahouts work the streets for money, but behind this simple answer there are a number of far more complicated factors.
Domesticated elephants have been used for work in Asia for thousands of years. Tasks have included logging, building, transportation and providing support during wartime. However, in the modern world, the elephant’s strength and intelligence has been made obsolete by machines.
In Thailand, the problems were particularly exacerbated by the logging ban of 1989 when thousands of elephants were put out of work simultaneously. The elephant’s owners, often small families, have seen their animals go from being net wage earners to being a huge drain on their finances. Many traditional mahouts see no option other than to take their elephants to the city to earn an income.
On the other hand, richer and more unscrupulous criminal elements have been buying up high numbers of elephants and renting them out to people who will take them into the cities. They are using the suffering of these mighty animals to line their pockets.

What Problems do the Elephants Suffer?

Elephants are not designed for the urban jungle. These are just some of the appalling ways that street elephants suffer:

Feet - Most street elephants start work at about 4 pm when they begin walking from their hideouts on wasteland to the main entertainment districts. At this time of day it is still very hot on the roads and the pavements burn the souls of elephant’s feet. Elephant’s feet are designed for walking in jungle and grassland not burning concrete. There is also danger of rubbish. Many elephants live on wasteland that is littered with broken bottles, rusty cans and other hazards. Often they cut their feet and this can lead to infection, blood poisoning and even death.

Sunstroke and Dehydration – As previously stated, during the day most city elephants hide on wasteland. Often there is no shade for the elephants and they are left unprotected from the ravages of the sun. We have seen the most appalling sunburn on street elephants who are in absolute agony as the skin peels from their backs.
Often they also have inadequate water supplies. They have to rely on their mahouts to bring them water in buckets. This is however hard arduous work and only the most dedicated mahout will bring the 60 gallons a day that the elephant needs.
We found the elephant pictured in Bangkok desperate for water as he lay collapsed from severe dehydration in the heat of the midday sun.

Gastric and Respiratory Problems – These are both very common in city elephants. Elephants have sensitive stomachs yet most of the diet of a street elephant is contaminated by pollution, pesticides or both.
Similarly the air the elephants breathe is choked by pollution and exhaust fumes. For an animal designed to live in a natural environment, the ravages of pollution can play havoc with an elephant’s respiration.

Traffic and other accidents– Motor vehicles are a major danger. In 2002, a Thai government minister stated that up 20 elephants a month were involved in traffic accidents. EleAid’s Max is a perfect example of how a traffic accident can leave a street- walking elephant crippled for life.
There are also many other hazards in the city that can cause elephants to have accidents when they are out of a familiar environment. In 1987 an elephant called Boon Choo fell into an open sewer and died in Bangkok. Others have suffered a similar fate since.

Cruelty and Drugs – Elephants suffering from any of the problems listed above are unlikely to be the most cooperative of animals when it comes to performing tricks and meeting the general public. Disorientated by a myriad of health problems and forced into the noisy entertainment areas with booming music and confusing neon lights, the elephants can be difficult to control. To keep them in line, the mahouts are often brutal with their discipline and many elephants endure shocking physical abuse with the ankush.
The animals also suffer from extreme fatigue and to combat the tiredness it is commonplace for mahouts to drug the elephants with amphetamines to keep them on the move. EleAid has observed many street elephants with cloudy, dead eyes which is the classic symptom of drugging.

Solutions?

In Thailand it is illegal for elephants to be living in urban areas. The government tries to enforce the law but it is very difficult. The mahouts hide their elephants and constantly move them to different areas of the city. However, even when elephants are located there are great difficulties. The average city police officer has no idea how to deal with a four ton elephant and often it is easier for law enforcement to turn a blind eye to the problem. Occasionally the government bring in experienced mahouts and purge the city but it is only a matter of time before the elephants are sneaked back in and are on the streets again.

To be truly effective, any solution must be holistic and comprehensive rather than relying on occasional purges and ad hoc involvement. Firstly an alternative means of earning a living must be made available to the elephants and their keepers. Whether it is working in the tourist business or with the forestry commission patrols, there must be an incentive for the mahouts to remove their elephants from the streets.
This should be coupled with a corresponding increase in the severity of the penalties for taking elephants back into urban areas. Currently the fines for an elephant in the city are often laughably small and can be made back with a few hours of begging. This needs to be dramatically increased. the refusal to pay fines should lead to the forfeiture of the elephant.
Thirdly, enforcement should be dramatically improved. Specialist elephant teams should be set up in cities with an elephant problem and they should be given the resources necessary to carry out the job effectively. Potentially they could operate in tandem with NGO’s who could provide the elephant handling skills.
EleAid strongly advocates the adoption of the above measure for dealing with the problem of street elephants. However it requires real commitment on behalf of city government and other authorities to see them implemented. In the meantime, we urge the public and tourists who encounter street elephants to refrain from handing money to the mahouts. Of course the natural reaction on being confronted by a street elephant is to feed them. However these well intentioned actions merely serve to perpetuate the problem

Source: http://www.eleaid.com/index.php?page=streetelephants

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