Urban Jungle – Thai Elephants Work in the City

“A woman pays to feed an elephant in a residential area of Bangkok.”
Photos and article by Brent Lewin
Link to Brent Lewin’s website and his Urban Jungle photos.

“30km from Bangkok in the suburb of Bang Bua Thong is a half-built housing community occupied by over 1500 squatters. In the furthest reaches of the development live 5 Khmer-speaking families from a poor province in Thailand who come to Bangkok when the rice-growing season is finished. As if out of a classical tale of days gone by, the elephants live side by side with their mahouts and use the concrete foundations of their surroundings as their jungle gym.

“To supplement the family income when the rice growing season has ended, they relocate to the suburbs of the capital and truck the elephants into town daily, walking them through the streets of Bangkok searching for people willing to pay to feed the elephants. (Boon Kuh says his family can earn 10,000 baht ($330) a month after expenses.)”

See Brent’s article about the elephants in Geist Magazine here.