Thailand cracks down on elephant begging
Thai authorities have unveiled measures to crackdown on “elephant begging” — a decades-old scam in which the animals’ owners offer tourists and passers-by the chance to feed or pet the giant creatures in return for payment.
Although elephants are already banned from Bangkok, little has been done until now to prevent the animals being brought to the city, with up to 100 currently at work on the streets.
But now authorities plan to phase out elephant begging with a mixture of generous incentives and tough fines, CNN’s Dan Rivers reports.
The elephants are often run by criminal gangs or invested in by unscrupulous businessmen, who can earn up to $30 a day from the trade – though often at the expense of the elephant’s well being.
But many poor families of elephant owners, or mahouts, also depend on begging for their livelihoods.
“It’s good for making money but it’s not good for the elepahnt because of the pollution and the traffic,” one mahout, Preecha Chumroendee, told CNN.
Under the new scheme, a foundation with links to the Thai royal family is offering to but elephants from the mahouts for more than $20,000 an animal – offering their owners the opportunity to invest in land or start another business.