Thong Kham
Confident Thong Kham (‘Pure Gold’) is a strong female who loves her life!
Thong Kham was tied up in a broken down shack and loaded down by a heavy, metal bench strapped to her back, when we first met her. She looked depressed and she was obviously worn out. Swaying side to side, she held on to a single blade of grass, as if it gave her some form of comfort.
We were contacted by Thong Kham’s owners and they explained that they were too old and too tired to continue on with camp life. They wanted to return to their home village and reunite with their family. They explained that there were several buyers interested in Thong Kham, as she was a strong, good looking female, of breeding age. Their wish was that Thong Kham could retire and live out the rest of her life as a true elephant, at BLES, but they were eager to move her quickly and leave the camp as soon as possible.
With notorious breeders showing a keen interest, we knew we had to pull out all the stops to save Thong Kham.
With no time to lose, we reached out to Planting Peace (a US based non for profit, who have helped BLES rescue elephants in the past), who immediately launched a fundraiser. BLES supporters responded to the call to action with such an incredible sense of emergency - the funds were raised in under 24 hours! One person in particular went above and beyond to ensure Thong Kham’s ending was a happy one - Farzad Milani. Not only did he contribute a substantial amount towards the rescue of Thong Kham, he also flew all the way to BLES, to meet Thong Kham in person and witness her first few moments of freedom.
When the day of Thong Kham’s rescue came, The BLES Team was ready! We arrived at the camp early, eager to get our beautiful girl out of those chains and onto our truck. She patiently waited, tied up, but no longer weighed down by that ugly, nasty, bench. She was finally, after more than twenty years, free from ever having to give another ride to tourists again.
Thong Kham was nervous about getting on The Green Machine (our transportation truck) at first. But our mahouts worked together with Thong Kham’s owners to slowly convince her that she could trust in the process.
Once on the truck, Thong Kham stood like a statue, wide eyed and curious. The mahouts swiftly secured the safety frame and Thong Kham’s owners bid a tearful goodbye to her. They sobbed, wiping away tears and they hugged all of us, saying thank you to us, over and over again, which had most of The BLES Team in tears too!
Many of the other mahouts from the camp had gathered round to watch Thong Kham’s emotional exit. It was heartening to hear them all talking to each other about how Thong Kham was so lucky to be starting a new life with us at BLES.
As we drove out and away from the camp, we waved goodbye to those left behind. We can only hope that our mantra of leading by example and emanating compassion for all, will start a ripple of change.
Thong Kham was calm and collected throughout the ten hour drive back to BLES. Our mahouts tended to her every need and sat beside her for the entire trip.
When we finally arrived at BLES, Thong Kham seemed a bit overwhelmed. It took her a while to start enjoying her welcome fruit feast and the very first thing she reached for, was not the watermelon or bananas. It was a chunk of banana tree! She held it in her mouth and then dropped it by her feet. Then she slowly started stripping off the outer layers, so that she could get to the juicy centre part. Watching her eat that first piece of banana tree was so special.
Thong Kham is now a totally transformed individual. She now oozes confidence and enjoys socialising with Mare Ladee and Dok Lak. She runs and plays. She lives by the rhythm of the forest and we make sure she enjoys a never-ending supply of freshly chopped down banana trees!
Thong Kham’s rescue and rebirth is a testament to what we can do when we unite and fight for the elephants of Thailand.
Thank you for playing a pro active part in rewriting the narrative for Thong Kham - thanks to you, there is now one less enslaved elephant in this world.
Adopt Thong Kham
