Buy up Bangkok begging elephants,
return to the wilds?
Does this create the wrong
incentives?
By Jon Fernquest
Elephants
are a common sight on the streets of Bangkok.Elephant owners parade their elephants around on the streets of Bangkok trying to persuade tourists to buy bannanas to feed the elephants.
This transforms the noble and dignified elephant into a sophisticated begging device and also pushes it closer to endangered species.
There is even a street sign in nearby Jomtien beach with the picture of an elephant with a line through it meaning: no elephants permitted here.
Elephants have pooped all over the place in the past and city officials don't want to foot the clean up bill anymore.
Recently in Bangkok an elephant working near the bars on Sukhumvit was hit by a drunk driver and died.
Another elephant was electrocuted and yet another fell into a ditch and had to be pulled out (See photo on right).
A book has even been published recently on the plight of the begging elephants: The Great Elephant Escape (See Silkworm Books).
Now donations are being pooled by elephant sympathisers to buy up elephants for 500,000 baht ($14,664) per head and return them to the wilds.
Trying to solve the problem of begging elephants this way, however, could eventually lead to problems by creating the wrong incentives, as today's article explains.
Today's article begins after the vocabulary:
begging elephants - elephants
used to beg money from people
the wilds - the jungle (original home of elephants)
an incentive - a reward to encourage certain behaviours or actions
create wrong incentives - accidentally encourage people to do the wrong thing
a common sight - people see all the time
parade X around - show and move X around in order to gain some advantage for oneself (for example: children have been paraded around alongside the leaders to gain publicity for their project)
persuade X to do Y - try to get X to do Y
transforms - changes
noble - an impressive appearance or quality, superior to others
dignified - calm, impressive, and deserving of respect
endangered species - a group of animals with a falling population that might soon disappear completely (See Wikipedia)
sophisticated - more advanced and complex than others
a device - an object that achieves some goal or purpose (for example: a device for listening to music is called a radio)
a begging device - an object used to beg money from people
foot the bill - pay the bill
poop - feces, stool, human or animal waste matter (See Wikipedia)
all over the place - everywhere
electrocuted - accidentally killed or injured after touching something connected to electricity
donations - money given by people to help some project or organisation financially
donations pooled - collecting all donations together into one fund (money collection)
sympathisers - people who feel sorry for people (or animals) in a bad situation
eventually Y - in the end Y, after many other events...
the wilds - the jungle (original home of elephants)
an incentive - a reward to encourage certain behaviours or actions
create wrong incentives - accidentally encourage people to do the wrong thing
a common sight - people see all the time
parade X around - show and move X around in order to gain some advantage for oneself (for example: children have been paraded around alongside the leaders to gain publicity for their project)
persuade X to do Y - try to get X to do Y
transforms - changes
noble - an impressive appearance or quality, superior to others
dignified - calm, impressive, and deserving of respect
endangered species - a group of animals with a falling population that might soon disappear completely (See Wikipedia)
sophisticated - more advanced and complex than others
a device - an object that achieves some goal or purpose (for example: a device for listening to music is called a radio)
a begging device - an object used to beg money from people
foot the bill - pay the bill
poop - feces, stool, human or animal waste matter (See Wikipedia)
all over the place - everywhere
electrocuted - accidentally killed or injured after touching something connected to electricity
donations - money given by people to help some project or organisation financially
donations pooled - collecting all donations together into one fund (money collection)
sympathisers - people who feel sorry for people (or animals) in a bad situation
eventually Y - in the end Y, after many other events...
EDITORIAL Plight of the jumbos
17/08/2009The various projects to help the elephants of Bangkok have finally begun to take shape. Thanks to public donations, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration has been able to purchase a 30-year-old, partially blind animal. Instead of begging for food in the dangerous capital city, Pang Bua Kham will get a home at the Thai Elephant Conservation Centre in Lampang. The rescue of this elephant is a heart-warming story, and a project that deserved the support it got.
It is not so clear, however, that general plans to continue to raise money to send elephants to the countryside is sustainable or worthwhile. The well-meaning programme could just wind up encouraging owners to bring their animals to Bangkok in a never-ending elephant march seen more as a profitable business than a rescue project.
The idea of involving the public in a programme to adopt elephants began to take shape about two months ago. BMA Governor MRSukhumbhand Paribatra announced the formal start to the project on July 3, and predicted the capital city would be elephant-free by next July 2. City inspectors were dispatched once again to do a census of elephants inside metropolitan Bangkok, and to insert microchips under the skin of each animal, to allow formal cataloguing of the pachyderms. According to the governor, they found "about 100" elephants begging in Bangkok.
The lack of a precise number could illustrate the enormous problems involved in trying to keep track of these massive beasts. Elephant owners have traditionally brought their animals to Bangkok to raise money through begging when they could not find regular work, such as logging in the provinces. But in recent years, more and more mahout and owners have been bringing the elephants into Bangkok as an alternative to the harder work up-country. Bangkok residents, like all Thais, love elephants. Many are superstitious, and owners are able to exploit this into cash from people who pay to walk under the elephant's stomach.
In short, many elephants already are treated by their owners as begging machines rather than workers. This demeans both the owner and elephant. The Thai national symbol is not an elephant performing tricks in order to sell overpriced bananas to the public. Elephants are revered for their historical, cultural contribution to the nation as a worker and a faithful animal.
Critique
The programme to purchase all elephants in Bangkok in order to get them off the streets confuses two competing ideas. The first is that elephants should not be roaming the streets of the capital where they often are struck by vehicles, suffering injuries or worse. They should not be reduced to tricks or to begging on behalf of their owners. But the second aim must be to give the animals dignity. It is unclear that the plan to buy up elephants willy-nilly can do this.The great danger is that domestic elephants will become part of an organised sales effort. Mahouts will bring a steady procession of elephants to Bangkok to demand a profitable price from the city and its charitable citizens - and then go back to the countryside to get another one. Such a programme inevitably will mean that unscrupulous businessmen will encourage capturing wild elephants and putting them into the same programme.
The problem of elephants in Bangkok is complex and cannot be solved only by applying baht. The heart of the city is in the right place. But purchasing elephant after elephant merely to get them off the streets is unlikely to solve the plight of these great animals.
(Source: Bangkok Post Editorial, Plight of the jumbos, 17/08/2009, link)
Vocabulary:
the plight of Y - Y's situation which is full of problems and difficulties
jumbos - large elephants
the metropolitan administration - the government of a city
conservation, nature conservation - protecting animals and plants from harm and from disappearing (extinction) and also the places they live (See Wikipedia)
Thai Elephant Conservation Centre (Lampang) - (See changthai.com, National Elephant Institute, and Google Maps)
heart-warming story - makes the reader feel sympathy and emotional (about the elephant)
X deserved Y - X got Y and X should have got Y
sustainable - can continue successfully for long periods of time
worthwhile - something that is useful or enjoyable to do ("worth" the time and effort)
well-meaning - done with good intentions (mean to do only good, not cause harm)
MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra - the current governor of Bangkok
dispatched - sent
a census - counting all the people who live in an area
census of elephants - counting all the elephants in an area
metropolitan Bangkok - the city of Bangkok together with all the large towns next to Bangkok such as Nonthaburi and Samut Prakhan
insert microchips - put a computer chip under the skin that can be used to identify and track the elephant
catalogue - make a list of the things in a group
formal cataloguing - making a formal list (authoratative, complete, official) of everything in a group of things
pachyderms, pachydermata - a group of mammals with thick skins which includes elephants, rhinoceroses, and hippopotamuses (See Wikipedia)
logging - cutting down trees (for wood or to make paper)
mahout - the driver of an elephant or the person who takes care of the elephant
X an alternative to Y - X is a substitute or replacement for Y, X can be done instead of Y
up-country - outside of Bangkok, in the countryside (sometimes even used for the south)
superstitious - believing in things that are real or impossible
exploit - use for personal gain
X demeans Y - doing X causes people to have less respect for Y
a symbol of Y - something that represents or is typical of Y
national symbol - something that represents or is typical of a country
revered for - respected and admired much for Y
a contribution to Y - doing something to help make project Y successful
a critique - an evaluation, an examination of ideas and judgement about whether they are true or useful
two competing ideas, two competing goals - two goals
confuses X and Y, confuses X with Y - thinking or acting as if X and Y are the same, but they are not
roaming - travel or wander around without purpose
do X on behalf of Y - do X for Y
dignity - acting in a calm and controlled way, in a way that makes people respect you
willy-nilly - done in careless and disorganised way, without planning
buy up elephants willy-nilly - buy elephants without thinking about plan carefully
domestic elephants, domesticated - elephants not in the wild, raised in a zoo, in captivity
an effort - activity to achieve a goal
an organised sales effort - a well planned sales campaign or effort
a procession - a group of people moving together as part of a public event (for example: the funeral procession)
a steady procession - a steady flow
charitable - giving money to the poor and disadvantaged
charitable citizens - people in country who give money to the poor and disadvantaged
unscrupulous - prepared to act in an immoral and dishonest way to get what they want
unscrupulous businessmen - businessmen prepared to act immorally and dishonestly to make a profit
