An elephants study programme will be launched in Ayutthaya to promote the importance of the pachyderm that is under threat of maltreatment and famine.
Ittiphan Khaolamai, manager of the Ayutthaya Royal Elephant Kraal, or Wang Chang Ayutthaya Lae Paniat, in Ayutthaya province, said on Thursday a group of academics is working with the Ayutthaya Royal Elephant Kraal to set up a programme to promote the importance of elephant.
The Association of Private Schools of Thailand has agreed to include the programme as an extra curriculum, he said, adding the programme is line with HM the Queen's initiative for protecting Asian elephants in Thailand.
He was speaking yesterday in Ayutthaya to mark Thai National Elephant Day that falls on March 13 each year. The celebration yesterday also included a feast thrown for more than 70 elephants at the elephant centre.
Under the programme, students of all ages as young as kindergarten will be educated about the creature and its problems.
The issue of elephant will be included in lessons to raise awareness about the protection of elephants for younger generations, Ms Ittiphan added.
Meanwhile, Jiraphan Kaewsri, a mahout of a five-year-old female elephant from Surin's Chumporn Buri district, has demanded the government step up efforts to promote ecotourism and elephant-related tourist activities.
Domesticated elephants in many provinces are facing famine due to a shortage of food and water sources in communities, he said. He called on the public to understand the need to take a jumbo to beg for food on the streets, which he said often arises from drought in their hometown.
Somroj Kukittikase, a lecturer at Rajamangala University of Technology Isan, Surin campus, a expert on elephant conservation, said cooperation from mahouts and state authorities is required to tackle the problem. He had demanded the government boost ecotourism and elephant-related tourist activities which can serve as a source of income for mahouts and help them stay at home.
Mr Somroj said mahouts play a role in helping elephants live longer and have a better quality of life. An elephant cooperative is needed to raise funds for the creatures' welfare when they get old, he said.