Boomed color

Open Life "Color Booms," the last generation of wood-hauled elephants, chain-bound fate in the middle of the forest. The owner accepts love but can't care.

Spreading - from a viral clip of an elephant chained in the middle of a bamboo forest park to the sound of criticism in the online world, the news team recently talked to the owner of a nearly 50-year-old elephant, "Boom," to open another corner of life that reflects the truth of an elephant herder in an era when the wood-hauling profession was fading.

"Si Doom" is a male elephant whose name is listed on the elephant ticket as "Si Dor," which is the name of the registration attached to the identity book. The original history is uncertain. It was only known that he had worked mainly dragging wood in many areas in the Ngong District, Tak Province, and the Ngai District, Lampang Province, before living with "Pi Chai," a native who spread about 10 years ago.

Chai said that he first met "Nong Boom" in the area of Ngawa, Lampang, while working on wood, before deciding to buy it during the COVID-19 situation to carry out wood-hauling work in the area of Sing Kwang, Mon., and nearby in Nan.

Today, "Nong Boom," about 48-49 years old, is an elephant with a docile habit, not fierce, easy to reach, but life turns around when Chai has a knee health problem, cannot work with an elephant, and must hire someone else to take care of it.

However, with space and resource constraints, it requires a chain about 30 meters long, allowing it to feed deep in the forest, and occasionally enter to provide water to feed; as areas near communities are affected by wildfires, natural food sources have been greatly reduced.

The owner frankly admitted that despite loving elephants as a family, the current condition may no longer be the best life for "Boom."

"I bought it, I loved him, but to keep him like this, it wouldn't be comfortable," Chai admitted.

Another concern is that at the end of May, "Nong Boom" may enter a state of metabolism, which requires close supervision if it is not yet possible to find a solution. The owner revealed that it may be necessary to send it to work hauling rubber wood in the southern area on the advice of an acquaintance.

"Nong Boom" is one of the few extant wood-hauled elephants in the area, Sing Kwang Mon, because many elephants have been sold according to changes in the forest industry.

The story of "Doom" reflects the other side of Thai elephant herders, who face both the burden, the limited space, and the changes of their traditional careers, from the dramatic images that many see, perhaps only part of their lives in which both "people" and "elephants" struggle together.

Among the social currents that question animal welfare, the voice of the owner this time may be the starting point for many parties to look for a common solution to give Thai elephants a decent life rather than being at the "end of the chain" alone.