Save and Rescue an Asian Elephant Today

Dear Supporters, 

GVI Chiang Mai works with the local community of Huay Pakoot to help bring their captive elephants back to the forest. Asian elephants in Thailand are hugely affected by deforestation and habitat degradation meaning that there is very little land for elephants to be released back into the wild. GVI Chiang Mai is fortunate to partner with the community of Huay Pakoot who allows the elephants to live in a semi-wild environment in the forest in the surrounding area.

The majority of our elephants have been a part of the GVI herd for over 4 years now and we work very hard with the current elephant owners and mahouts to ensure that they understand why it’s imperative to their elephant’s well- being to allow them to live in their natural habitat.

Our dedication to ethical elephant tourism is also why GVI is approached by new owners to take their elephants from the tourist camps and return them to the forest.

At the beginning of October, we were approached by Don, nephew to our mahout Patti (Thong Dee’s mahout) who has been with the GVI project since it started in 2010. We were asked if it would be possible for their male elephant, Charlie, to join our GVI herd. Because of your donations, which already support 3 of our elephants, we are able to bring more elephants, like Charlie, back to the forest.

Introducing Charlie

Charlie is a beautiful 9-year-old male who was born in a camp in Northern Thailand and used to spend his days painting pictures for visiting tourists. Charlie is grandson to Thong Dee and has never lived in a forest before, having spent his whole life in the camp. His mahout, Don, is working very hard to help Charlie adjust to an environment he should be naturally suited to but has never experienced before. He is slowly being introduced to the forest and learning which foods are best for him and the most delicious! Previously, Charlie would have been fed by his mahout in the camp, so has never had the opportunity to explore the forest and feed for himself, something which is vital to an elephant’s well-being. Captive elephants rarely get the opportunity to choose who they want to socialize with, however once Charlie has adjusted to the forest and feels confident, he will join the other elephants and hopefully spend some time with his grandmother, Thong Dee!

Thank you so much for your support!

With Gratitude,
GVI Thailand

Dear Supporters, 

It’s integral to the success of the project that the villagers, particularly the mahouts, learn to speak English sufficiently to ensure they can communicate effectively with visitors coming to the village. We are constantly brainstorming new ways to interact and integrate with the community, whilst attempting to drive more English lessons that are engaging, yet productive.

The village of Huay Pakoot is an indigenous Karen Hill Tribe in Northern Thailand, renowned throughout the country for their knowledge of elephants. The language that is predominantly spoken within the village is Pakinyaw, although a lot of the younger generations do speak, read and write Thai after being taught this at school.

Typically, the tradition of being a mahout is a skill that has been passed down from generation to generation and knowledge that is only acquired through practice. As a result of these traditions, the majority of our mahouts left school around the age of 12, usually upon completing primary school, to help care for their families’ elephants in tourist camps; therefore cutting their education short.

As the GVI project has been running here for nearly six years, most of the mahouts have managed to absorb a fair amount of English vocabulary from volunteers, however, they do not usually feel confident enough to put this knowledge into practice.

Whilst we have successfully been running a bi-weekly English class with some of our older mahouts for the past few years, we have never managed to consistently get the younger mahouts to partake in these classes. Over the last month, we have trialed a new location for a new mahout English class, in the hope that the younger mahouts would feel more comfortable and under less pressure with fewer people attending.

The class has been working really well so far with three mahouts (Towie, Suwit, Root) regularly turning up for lessons twice a week. When new volunteers arrive on project, we have a 5-day lesson plan for them to learn Pakinyaw. We have also been doing this with the mahouts but in reverse, so they can understand the same basics that volunteers are being taught and this may encourage everyone to communicate during hikes. Ensuring that the mahouts can communicate effectively using English is vital for the future of the project.

Ensuring that the mahouts can communicate effectively using English is vital for the future of the project. 

Thank you for your support!

With Gratitude, 

GVI Thailand