Elephants on the Streets of Bangkok

Although it is now illegal to take elephants onto the streets of Bangkok, you do still sometimes see them on the outskirts of the city. It is not healthy for the elephants to walk on concrete roads and to breathe in all of that pollution. It is also not healthy for them as accidents have happened when they have collided with vehicles. These elephants are usually taken out at the end of the day when it is cooler but also when local officials have already gone home for the day. They are forced to beg for food. Their mahouts carry bags of sugar cane and bananas which you can buy for 20 Baht a time. Elephants in Bangkok are not really for the foreign tourists. It is a Thai thing. People believe it is good luck to walk under the belly of an elephant. In particular it is good luck for pregnant women. But, none of this is good luck for the poor elephant. Some of them are poached from the wild and brought to the concrete jungle. If we all stop buying food for these elephants and then maybe they will stop bringing them into the cities.