With one eye missing, her throat severely injured and chains around her legs, 60-year-old Kham Phaeng was one of the most dreadfully abused elephants our partner had seen.
This elderly animal used to be a riding elephant in Pattaya, Thailand. Chained up day and night, she was unshackled only for people to ride on her back. She was denied physical contact with other elephants, and for at least 10 years, she was chained too tightly to lie down. The rough wooden chair on her back, which pressed painfully into her body, was seldom if ever removed.
A harness strapped to her back, a rider on top — this was Kham Phaeng’s reality for years. Exploited as a riding elephant in Pattaya, this 60-year-old elephant endured unimaginable suffering, denied even the simple comfort of another elephant’s touch. Credit: Somboon Legacy Foundation
These chains once held Kham Phaeng captive day and night, unshackled only so tourists could ride her injured body. For this 60-year-old elephant, they represent decades of pain and isolation. Credit: Somboon Legacy Foundation
To save money, this horribly abused animal was fed a diet of pineapple tree leaves, which severely damaged her throat and left it swollen and excruciatingly painful.
Elephants like Kham Phaeng are born into suffering.
It is their fate from the moment they take their first breath.
In Thailand, wild elephants are protected by law, but “domestic” elephants – such as those used in the tourism trade – are legally classified as working animals. Welfare standards for working animals are almost non-existent and leave significant room for exploitation.
Even more horrifying, some forms of severe abuse inflicted on captive elephants are not outlawed.
To make them submissive, elephants used for entertainment are subjected to a brutal process known as “phajaan” or “breaking the spirit”. It involves separating young calves from their mothers, confining them in small spaces, and inflicting severe pain using bullhooks, sticks, or sharp metal objects until the elephant’s will is broken and it learns to obey commands out of fear.
They call it “phajaan”. Calves are taken from their mothers, confined and beaten into submission using bullhooks and sharp metal objects. Credit: Protect All Wildlife
Credit: Protect All Wildlife
Help us give elephants in extreme old age the dignified retirement they deserve.
This is where our partner, Somboon Legacy Foundation, comes in. At Somboon Legacy Foundation, elephants have minimal human contact to allow them to live as naturally as possible. All its elephants have been rescued from lifetimes of abuse, exhaustion, stress and exploitation.
At last, these majestic beings – one is 90 years old – can finally walk freely, socialize and behave naturally in a peaceful, natural environment where their emotional and physical scars can begin to heal.
After seven years, our partner has been told to vacate the premises by April.
The riverside resort where Somboon keeps its elephants has asked the foundation to relocate. This relocation is set to be incredibly stressful for the elephants.
Malee (90 years old) was abused in the logging industry in Thailand, and even endured a broken leg after a log hit and severely injured her. She is now safe at Somboon Legacy Foundation. Credit: ASI/Taryn Slabbert (Left) and Somboon Legacy Foundation (Right)
Somboon has found a new home for its animals, but is struggling to raise funds for the relocation. Without these funds, they cannot move the elephants, which leaves their futures dreadfully uncertain.
Please help us get these abused elderly elephants to a new home.
Please help us get Kham Phaeng and her friends to their new home. Time is ticking and we must help right away.
