Why Is the Elephant Important in Thailand?

1 Elephants are a very important part of Thailand’s history .They are Symbols of power and peace. They are strong and gentle at the same Time But many years ago they also did important work. They helped the Thai people get wood from their forests .

2 In the past , the Thai People cut down a lot of trees. In 189, the Government made a law stop this . They wanted to keep the trees in the Forest . Today the Thai people cut down only a few trees Some elephants Work in the forests to help them The forest are in the mountains Many Trucks and machines cannot go up the mountains But elephants can Men cut down the trees , and the elephant pick up the trees. Then the Elephant carry the trees to the river. The trees float down the river to Other men The men cut the trees into pieces of wood.

3 In the past , elephant trained for many years to learn how to work. Each elephant had its own trainer, or mahout . A mahouts spent his life With the same elephant Fathers wanted their sons to be mahouts, too Mahouts bought baby elephants for their sons First , the baby elephant Stayed with its mother . When the elephant was three years old , it lived With the boy the boy and the elephant grew up together. The boy took Care of the elephant. They learned a lot about each other.

4 A mahout trained , fed and took care of his elephant This was a Difficult job An elephant eats 550 pounds (250 kilos ) of plants and drinks 80 gallons (300 liters) of water every day! It trained every day for six Hours in the morning. The elephant got used to the mahout the Elephant remembered the mahout’s voice and smell It understood its Mahout’s instructions The elephant obeyed its mahout It did not obey Other mahouts the mahout trained the elephant for twenty years. At age Twenty, the elephant began to work Elephants worked for about thirty- Five years They stopped work at age fifty-five or sixty – like people

5Today , most elephants and mahouts have no work But the elephants Are still very important in Thailand . Visitors to Thailand want to see Them .The Thai people are very proud of their elephants.