BANGKOK – A thousand elephants threatened by starvation have journeyed through the hills of northern Thailand, making a slow migration home from tourist sites forced shut by the pandemic.
Home for some of the animals is the northern village of Huay Pakoot, where generations of ethnic Karen mahouts – or elephant handlers – have been rearing the giant mammals for four centuries.
But it is around tourist hub Chiang Mai, 180 kilometres (110 miles) away, that many mahouts and their elephants work, performing money-spinning tricks for foreigners in amusement parks or “sanctuaries.” (AFP)
