Sincere appreciation from the Royal Thai Embassy for Japanese generosity for Thai elephants.

03/08/2020

Since the beginning of this year, the COVID-19 global pandemichas posed a considerable impact not only on humanity but also on animals. Elephants in Thailand have also been affected by the outbreak. Due to international travel restriction, the income of elephant camps and elephant mahouts in Thailand has reduced dramatically as international tourists are the major source of their income. On top of that, drought situation in Thailand causes prices for elephant’s food crop to rise and has affected natural food sources for elephants.

The Royal Thai government attaches importance to the elephant food shortage situation and has put efforts to alleviate elephant food supply and to provide appropriate assistance to elephants. The Department of Livestock Development of Thailand has provided dry grass, fresh grass, and grass slips to elephant camps. Proper assistance has been given to rescue the elephants with health problems,who are under the care of elephant camps with financial difficulty. Elephant mahouts may also request for elephant food stock from respective local Livestock Offices. In order to make sure the assistance is given to all elephant camps and elephant mahouts in need, the Government has instructed the relevant authorities to regularly monitor the number of elephants and camps facing such difficulty.

 The Royal Thai Embassy in Tokyo learned with appreciation thata number of Japanese people and Japanese private sector expressed concern over the Thai elephant welfare during the COVID-19 situation. For example, the Embassy was contacted by Ms. KURIBAYASHI Ayuko and Ms. WADA Hiroko, two Japanese nationals, to assist them in transmitting their precious donation to elephant foundations in Thailand. Freewill Inc., a Japanese company, also implemented a two-phase fund-raising project called “Save the Elephants, Save the Soul of Thailand”to help Thai elephants and successfully donated the fund to the Thai Elephant Federation.

The Royal Thai Embassy in Tokyo wishes to express its deep appreciation for Japanese people and various organisations for their sympathy and generosity in helping Thai elephants during the COVID-19 outbreak.The elephant is a symbol of close friendship between Thai and Japanese people. In this challenging time, Thai elephant is playing an impressive role in further strengthening the existing relations between the two countries, by acting as a medium to demonstrate Japanese compassion that touches the hearts and minds of all Thais.

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