I fell in love with a Thai woman...

..and her name is Jokia... which means "Eye from heaven" in Thai. She is 55 yrs old and blind in both eyes hence the name Jokia). She is an Asian elephant rescued from an illegal logging company in Thailand and now living on an elephant reserve on the Thai-Burma Border. I heard about this trip from some other travelers who said that it was amazing... so I had to check it out for myself. I have been wanting to do a trek with elephants but was planning on waiting until Laos until I heard about this elephant rescue program. In 1993 Thailand outlawed logging of Thai tropical forests which was a huge step in the right direction for preserving habitat for wild elephants... but a huge problem for domesticated elephants who were now out of un-employed. For the mahouts (elephant care takers) and elephants to survive, all the un-employed turned to tourism. Elephants are made to beg for money on the streets and take pictures with tourists, carry tourists on their back in metal saddles... making there mahouts over $50 dollars a day... about the same as a months income for an average Thai. It really makes me sick. Domesticated elephants are considered livestock and treated like cheap labor here. Absolutely no animal rights in this country. At the nature reserve there are 31 elephants: some missing limbs due to land mines, some abused by logging companies, some addicted to methamphetamine in order to carry more tourists with less food, some blind. It is seriously so sad.... we watched a documentary on the way to the park and i cried the whole way.
So my elephant was rescued from the illegal logging in northern Thailand. The owners made her work long hours with little food or water. She was pregnant and had to deliver her baby on the mountain while logging. The baby elephant ended up rolling down the mountain and dying. The mom went into depression and would only lay down and refused to eat or even get up. So the mahouts shot out her eyes with arrows and slingshots in order to convince her to work. The park rescued her and when she got to the park another elephant, Mae Perm, adopted her and now never leaves her side. She kind of acts like her eyes. Jokia walks using her trunk as a walking stick or by holing Mae Perm. Its really sad but sweet to see the other elephant looking out for her. In the morning we went to the market to get all the food for the day. Then unloaded it and had fed out elephant. The coolest thing was when i got to give Jokia a bath in the river... it was incredible. I want to write more but we are meeting some friends at the bar. Tomorrow we are leaving for Laos (or at least trying to... seems a bit hard to get there) so i might not be able to post for a few days. Also a baby elephant kissed me, blew water all over me, and threw sand at me.... so awesome
NEVER PAY FOR ANY ELEPHANT RIDES EVER OR FOR ELEPHANTS BEGGING ON THE STREET.... it just contributes the abuse.
You can check out the organization at: www.elephantnaturepark.org