Struggling mahouts have little to celebrate--This seems to be a worldwide epidemic, as it is even affecting the mahouts in the United States.

Bangkok Post 31/10/2010

Without their skills the popular Surin Elephant Round-Up would not be possible, but the compensation barely covers their spartan existence during the 12-day festival.

Spare a thought for the mahouts who will take part in next month's celebrated annual elephant festival in Surin. They are perhaps the most neglected part of the festival, which draws tourists from far and wide. Yet without them the show could not go on.

Thousands of tourists flock every year to the 12-day Surin Elephant Round-up and Red Cross fair, which brings in millions of baht to the province. Yet when the sun goes down on the elephant dances, elephant football and mock elephant fights on offer, mahouts and their animals move to a humble camp at a military site in the middle of town.

Some sleep in tents while others share space in a temporary tarpaulin camp with only a pillow and thin blankets to help them get through the cold nights. They bathe in a nearby pond and cook their own meals.

They cannot afford to buy food at the fair, as the price of one plate of rice jumps to 50 baht.

Hotels and serviced apartments, out of reach financially anyway, double their room rates.

The elephant festival celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, but for many mahouts planning to make the long trek to Surin from their hometowns in the famous elephant province, the gloss has worn off.

The Surin provincial administration organization, which runs the festival, sets aside a budget of 10 million baht each year for the fair, which is also supported by local government organizations and the private sector.

ELEPHANTS’ FRIEND: Muean Saenkham, a mahout from the Kui tribe, at the camp on the outskirts of Surin city during the annual elephant round-up.

They host a 600-metre long elephant buffet on the main city drag a day before the elephant show kicks off. The highlight is the two-day Surin Elephant Round-Up. Last year the elephant show drew more than 25,000 visitors and the province estimated that the show and the Red Cross fair brought in 150 million baht to the tourism industry.

However, the elephant handlers who take their animals to the fair, and are an integral part of the entertainment on offer, are given just 2,500 baht a head to attend.

Muean Saenkham, a mahout from the Kui tribe, takes his two elephants from Ta Klang village in Tha Tum district of Surin to the festival every year.

''I grew up with my elephant. When I was young my father and I rode our elephant to the festival. I have done this for more than 40 years, in recent years with my teenage son,'' said Mr Muean.

Thin and dark, he rarely smiled as he joined hundreds of other mahouts in taking about 300 elephants to Surin's capital last year for the Surin elephant festival.

This year's elephant show will be held on Nov 20-21.

The mahouts taking part bring with them a proud tradition of raising elephants which dates back hundreds of years. Ethnic Kui, whose roots are in Laos, settled the area around Ta Klang, Mr Muean's hometown, in the Ayutthaya period. The community, 58km north of the city, is known as ''elephant village''.

The townspeople's ancestors were good at catching and taming wild elephants, and in the past Kui leaders presented Thai kings with royal white elephants they had caught.

Kui leaders were also promoted to honourable government positions in what are now Surin and Si Sa Ket provinces.

In the Rattanakosin era, King Rama I renamed the provincial capital Surin after the Kui leader who governed the area at the time. Ethnic Kui now make up a small minority in Surin and their influence has dwindled, but they still raise a large number of domesticated elephants.

The Kui consider that raising and riding elephants is part of their heritage, and although they are farmers, they don't put their elephants to work in the rice fields.

It is said the elephant round-up, a key part of the festival, originated when the chief of Tha Tum District Office organized a fair that included an elephant show and boat races to mark the opening of a new office building.

TAKING A REST: Thong Thaeng and Thong Kham are highlights of the 300-elephant parade held a day before the start of the show.

The show was a hit with locals and the fair became an annual affair. It attracted tourists and the media, and the Thailand Tourism Organisation (TTO, later renamed the Tourism Authority of Thailand) came in to help promote the event.

TTO asked the government for help, and in 1962 the cabinet approved a resolution to let Surin organise the elephant fair as a national festival every year.

With that approval, Surin's governor ordered the show to be relocated from Tha Tum District to town to make it more accessible for tourists.

''The elephant round-up is only part of the fair. This is a big event which locals also look forward to,'' said former Surin governor Vichien Chavalit.

The show attracts foreign visitors from many countries.

Joshua, from France, visited Thailand for the first time last year and went directly from Bangkok to Surin to see the elephants.

HISTORY LESSON: An ancient battle between Siam and Burma is re-enacted during the annual elephant show.

''I heard about it and I wanted to know more so I came for the show,'' he said.

The 1,000 baht VIP tickets for this year's show were sold out, with 90% bought by foreigners. They wait to be entertained during a three-hour elephant show which includes elephant dances, elephants playing football and elephants ''fighting'' on a mock battlefield.

But the mahouts find it hard to share in the enthusiasm, with some wondering why they even bother to turn up.

Some say they cannot can earn enough to cover their expenses.

''My elephant eats up to 300kg of leaves and fruit a day.

''All I get from the province to feed him is one banana stalk a day,'' said Mr Muean.

''The festival used to bring happiness to everyone. It was party time for us mahouts,'' said another mahout who declined to be named.

''But look at us now _ we are struggling,'' he said.

At dawn, many mahouts leave their campsite and ride their elephants into town looking for customers.

''Elephant rides!' Feed the elephants,'' they call.

Some mahouts offer a ''trunk lift'' service in which the elephant bends its trunk into a U-shape and lets visitors sit on it.

The elephant lifts up its trunk until the mahout tells it to stop.

''We are asked to help the province so we come,'' said Mr Muean.

After the show, some mahouts ride their elephants back to their village where they run daily shows for tourists, or move on to other provinces.

''If it is not time for planting or harvesting, I ride my elephant around Isan. I will return again for the elephant festival next year,'' said one mahout.

The story repeats itself year after year _ mahouts are paid poorly while those in the tourist industry make good money. But though they may get discouraged, Kui people don't consider giving up on raising elephants.

''Elephants are our pride. They are our friends,'' said Mr Muean.

Courtesy of the 2010 Hadi Temple Shrine Circus(Turkey Festival) Elephant Department