THAILAND / Save Elephant Foundation
An ancient Kui village, Baan Tha Klang is home to the Surin Elephant Study Center. In 2005, a provincial organization began an initiative to reunite mahouts with their families, as their families often stayed at home in Surin while they earned an income street-begging with their elephants.
The Surin Provincial Adminsitrative Organization (SPAO) and the Zoological Park Organziation Thailand (ZPO) support approximately 200 mahouts with a monthly salary and free housing for their families, provided they keep their privately owned elephants within the Study Center. Unfortunately, the salary is not enough to cover the monthly expenses of properly caring for an elephant, not to mention supporting an entire family. In order to supplement this income, many mahouts find other work outside the Study Center, which forces their elephants to be chained up all day and all night, or perhaps they choose to have their elephants offer rides to tourists or perform in circus shows within the Study Center.
In 2009, Sangduen “Lek” Chailert founded the Surin Project as a way to support the mahouts living within the Surin Elephant Study Center and, in turn, provide their elephants with a better life. For each mahout that joins our project, Save Elephant Foundation matches their monthly salary received from either SPAO and ZPO, which gives them the chance to fully support their families. In return, each mahout must agree to:
* leave their bullhook at home
* unchain their elephant for at least 3 hours per day
* participate in a cultural exchange evening
* refrain from taking part in elephant rides or circus shows
* assist volunteers with daily project work
What to Expect
The Surin Project is not an elephant sanctuary. We are working within a government-run facility which does not have the same welfare standards for the elephants as we do. This makes our work here all the more important, but it also exposes us to a certain amount of suffering. If you are familiar with our project at Elephant Nature Park, you will notice some considerable differences:
* the land is government-owned, so our ability to build new structures is limited
* the elephants are owned by their mahouts, so how they are treated is ultimately not our decision
* over 90% of the elephants (about 180) living at the Study Center are not members of the Surin Project, and as such, you might witness use of the bullhook, elephant riding, elephant circus shows and chained elephants showing signs of stress (stereotypic behavior)
* the Study Center is located within the village of Baan Tha Klang, embedding you within a community with a unique Thai culture
The number of elephants with their mahouts a part of the Surin Project frequently changes, and we are constantly working to increase membership. At the present time, we have 12 elephants that we support. Hopefully, by showing local mahouts that people are willing to volunteer to help them and see their elephants living in a natural setting, they will be provided with the tools to adapt their mindset to be more considerate of their elephants’ welfare. After all, as our volunteer registration for the project expands, so too will our ability to support more elephants.
Transportation
Round-trip transportation is included from the main bus station in Buriram (map), which is located approximately 45 minutes from Baan Tha Klang. All volunteers will meet at 2:00pm on Monday afternoon to travel to the Surin Project. If you have any questions or concerns about transport on your way to Buriram, please call +66 (0) 84-482-1210.
For volunteers traveling from Bangkok, we offer a pick-up service from the Northern Mo Chit Bus Station (map) at 7:30am on Monday morning, on the 3rd floor in front of the Dunkin Donuts (NOT the booth), for an additional fee of 500 THB.
For volunteers traveling from Chiang Mai, our office staff at Save Elephant Foundation will arrange transportation on an overnight bus to Buriram from the Arcade Bus Station, for an additional fee of 800 THB.
At the end of your volunteer week(s), we will help you arrange transportation to Bangkok (500 THB per person) or Chiang Mai (800 THB per person), if desired.
Price
The cost to volunteer for one week (Monday – Sunday) is 13,000 ฿. Volunteers must be at least 16 years of age, and any participant younger than 18 years of age must be accompanied by a legal guardian.
Included during the Project:
* Round-trip transportation from Buriram
* All meals and accommodation
* Surin Project t-shirt
* Reusable water bottle and pouch
* 100,000 baht personal accident insurance
Not included:
* Airfares (international or domestic)
* Transportation to Buriram (we can help with travel arrangements)
* Personal travel insurance
* Snacks and drinks in between meals
* Any extra purchases made while volunteering
For more information please visit http://www.saveelephant.org/surin_project.html