Some 3,000 to 4,500 elephants live in captivity in Thailand. They mainly work in tourism and are classified under Thailand’s 1939 Draught Animal Act as working livestock, similar to cattle, buffalo, and oxen. This means they are not afforded protection as an endangered or vulnerable species like wild elephants. The conditions in which captive elephants live in Thailand are often poor, causing serious welfare issues.

The lives of captive and wild elephants are remarkably different, with the former primarily living in tourist camps and villages, while the latter live in national parks. Some rewilded captive elephants also live in protected reserves. Increasingly, captive elephants are finding homes in sanctuaries, which rescue elephants from a variety of situations where their welfare is threatened.

All of Thailand’s captive elephants are the descendants of wild animals captured from the forests in Myanmar, Thailand and Cambodia over the past decades and centuries, with the term “captive” providing a fitting description for an animal that is neither wild nor domesticated.

To use the words of elephant conservationist Richard Lair, the captive Thai elephant is “simply a wild animal in chains — but a wild animal frequently gentle and intelligent enough to be totally trustworthy”.