Mahouts

In short, Mahouts are people who live and work with elephants. They have a very special relationship, and are co-dependent. In Thailand, their main source of income was logging work, but as that is less and less available, the Mahouts and their elephants are having an increasingly difficult time finding work and food. As a result, these people and their families are having a difficult time living and surviving. Many become street beggars, traveling with their elephant and asking for money to feed the elephant. It is not uncommon to see them in crowded streets in big cities, preying on tourists for money (like you see above). 

There are some projects and opportunities for Mahouts to live in parks, and volunteers can come and participate with the community, learning the ways of the culture and how to care for the elephant. This is something I plan to do before leaving Thailand. If you want to read about the project, click here. There is a camp just down the road in Pattaya, so it's a very convenient adventure for me. 

For more extensive details on the history of elephants and their mahouts, click here. It's a really interesting way of life.