Western tourist needs to understand, Elephants were part of Thai culture for 1000s of years just like how horses were in Europe used for riding, farming, battle and meat. riding elephants and elephants made to work is similar to how horses are made to work in Europe, yes certainly some elephants are abused similar to how horse meat is consumed in some parts of europe. There is a Swiss german guy who assaulted a Thai doctor few days back and run a scam Green Elephant Sanctuary Park charging 2500 THB while buying elephants and parading it as sanctuary to appeal to western emotions, he lives on a million bhat per month beach front villa. be careful with your emotions and morality in Thailand, people are making millions out of it.
