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Karen Mahouts Throw an Elephant Party

By The Irrawaddy

June 27, 2007—Not to be outdone by the many elephant festivals on Thailand’s cultural and tourism calendar, the Karen community living along the Thai-Burmese border have their own annual pachyderm party.

Elephants are as important to the Karen as they are to Thais. The forest-dwelling Karen, a large ethnic group in Southeast Asia but mostly living in southern and eastern Burma, place a high value on the great beasts of burden, prizing them as much as a sleek Mercedes-Benz or a powerful bulldozer.

Every year, Karen mahouts parade their elephants through the Thai village of
Bang Mai Pattana, in the Sangkhla Buri district of Kanchanaburi province, on Thailand’s western border with Burma, some 400 km west of Bangkok.

The festival has its roots in a centuries-old tradition of treating the elephants to a party feast before the start of the working season. Piles of bananas, jackfruit, watermelons and sugarcane in the shape of a cake are fed to the elephants in the belief that their working morale will be boosted by an annual bonanza.

Ju Ker, a 50-year-old Karen mahout, told Thailand's English language newspaper Bangkok Post: "Elephants and mahouts are like brothers, parents and children, and best friends to each other. We must work as a team.''

The festival was traditionally held in April, but the Tourism Authority of Thailand persuaded the Karen mahouts to reschedule it in June because the month of April already has the Songkran festival as its highlight.

This year the number of elephants at the festival dropped from 26 to 14, because of the rescheduled program. The 12 who missed the party were working—it can sometimes be a tough life for an elephant.


 
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