Elephant Tragedy

[Tobi]

I don't get sympathy points for being a retard...

I feel sorry for you sometimes.

[thaiguest]

Karma's a bitch, ain't it?

That's a harsh, insensitive and also plain dumb thing to say. In the case of a tourist being killed by an elephant, I'd assume that the tourist in question is simply uninformed in the sense that they don't know about the horrors such an elephant has gone through. I fail to see the bad karma that tourist, compared with those who inflict the "training" or profit from it, has accrued.

Because it's common sense -- elephants don't like to be ridden. I don't get sympathy points for being a retard, so why would anyone else?

Horses like to be ridden. They think it's great fun when someone jumps on their back, and takes them for a ride. Elephants, not so much. People should learn that before they decide it's a good idea to jump on the back of one.

The extreme process of "breaking" an elephant (as opposed to a horse for instance) is no doubt due to the fact that an angry adult elephant can kill a human at will whereas a horse will take flight or cause death by accident.
There are some vintage videos out there showing the process of wild baby elephant breaking and you would need the stomach of a lion to watch them through to the end. (I don't know if it's done to captive juveniles).
The utter relentless torture goes on for days with nothing involved except piercing the caged-bound creature with prodding stick hooks in the most sensitive parts of the body by a rotation of screaming groups of men. The death rate is high but that doesn't seem to matter. There is no carrot/stick element involved as in lion taming. No reponse is rewarded nor even allowed.
So in a way Karma can be visited on an unsuspecting innocent tourist who happens to be given one of these animals as a mount.

[cdnmatt]

Yep, and I'll stick with what I said. Don't ride an elephant. It's about as brilliant as hopping on the back of a lion, and trying to give it a test spin. It's one of those things you just don't do, so my apologies, but I don't feel sorry for the tourist who got trampled on. I didn't have to get taught to not jump on the back of an elephant, but for some reason, I know that's probably not a very wise decision.

And yeah, I know how torturous their upbringing can be. It's beyond inhumame.

[Tobi]

It's a scam, just another way to extort baht from unsuspecting tourists, claiming you "damaged" the elephant.

[lego]

Yep, and I'll stick with what I said. Don't ride an elephant. It's about as brilliant as hopping on the back of a lion.

Nobody said its a good idea. Personally, I think you do much dumber things in Thailand, and still I wouldn't wish for you to be struck down by karma. Common sense vs common decency.

[cdnmatt]

Yep, and I'll stick with what I said. Don't ride an elephant. It's about as brilliant as hopping on the back of a lion.

Nobody said its a good idea. Personally, I think you do much dumber things in Thailand, and still I wouldn't wish for you to be struck down by karma. Common sense vs common decency.

Yes, because I'm sure if I got a knife in the neck due to meeting the wrong person, you would all be very sympathetic towards me.

I take my risks, as everyone has to do in life, but I'm not a complete retard when I do so. Hopping on the back of an elephant who doesn't know me isn't exactly on my list of priorities.

[thaiguest]

Yep, and I'll stick with what I said. Don't ride an elephant. It's about as brilliant as hopping on the back of a lion.

Nobody said its a good idea. Personally, I think you do much dumber things in Thailand, and still I wouldn't wish for you to be struck down by karma. Common sense vs common decency.

Yes, because I'm sure if I got a knife in the neck due to meeting the wrong person, you would all be very sympathetic towards me.

I take my risks, as everyone has to do in life, but I'm not a complete retard when I do so. Hopping on the back of an elephant who doesn't know me isn't exactly on my list of priorities.

I think hopping on the back of an abused elephant who doesn't know me (or fear me) is where the danger lies.
The torture by the prodding hook in the hands of a mahoot is no doubt imbedded in memory.
Elephants have a monopoly on elephantine memory I would think.

[francois]

Horses like to be ridden. They think it's great fun when someone jumps on their back, and takes them for a ride. Elephants, not so much. People should learn that before they decide it's a good idea to jump on the back of one.

Is that information straight from a horse's mouth or from a horse's ass?

Horseback riding is a dangerous activity causing far more deaths than from elephant riding.

[christianpfc]

And what about ponies, goats and sheep? Let's wait for latintop's expert opinion.

[Manforallseasons]

Its possible this topic is is ready for here: