Elephants in southern Thailand must do their ‘business’ on state toilets
Luxury elephant tours in southern Thailand are in jeopardy after local government officials have declared that elephants may no longer foul the main routes used for tourist treks as it is “hazardous to human health”. Instead, elephants will have to do their business on specially-designed toilets scattered along the main tourist trails. We spoke to local elephant keeper Wotsvat Pong who said the custom-built toilets were a real eyesore and expressed concerns at the new restrictions, saying that it would take months to “potty train” all his elephants. He fears that the penalties imposed for fouling the trails are too severe and could put him out of business. He went on to add: “The whole thing is just one big mess.” Government officials were unavailable for comment.
Should elephants be allowed to do their business when and where they want, or are govenment right to intervene? Please log your thoughts with us by posting a comment below.
Paul Johnson
Paul Johnson is Editor of A Luxury Travel Blog and has worked in the travel industry for more than 30 years. He is Winner of the Innovations in Travel ‘Best Travel Influencer’ Award from WIRED magazine. In addition to other awards, the blog has also been voted “one of the world’s best travel blogs” and “best for luxury” by The Daily Telegraph.
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Wow! I had never heard of such a thing…toilets for animals! I guess it makes sense… and it’s actually a pretty good idea…ANimal heces tend to attract flies and bad junk…
Great article!
555! (ha ha ha in Thai)
You got me! I read the title and looked at the picture. “Dave! Come and look at it this!”
“That’s got to be an April Fool”, he said.
Oh yeah, I forgot about the date. Brilliant, though. We enjoyed the laugh. Thanks.
LOL! oh a public toilet for elephants, that’s such very humorous but essential. I can see how Thai people love their elephants.Thanks
Ha, ha… thanks, Kay. And very good of you to admit to being “got”! ;)
totally got me even a few days later! Dang! Good one!
If anyone has spent much time in Thailand they’ll know how they make some crazy laws. Try buying a bottle of wine in a supermarket between 2pm and 5pm. Nope. That’s against the law. Nothing stopping you going to a bar between those hours and drinking yourself senseless, though.
What a great post! Until I realised it was an April Fools post. There are some people where I work that should be using toilets that size, as they dont seem to manage with the standard sized ones!
Another example of government out of control.
People visit to see the real country. There is nothing real about an elephant sitting on a toilet.
I recently was in Patong and realized the elephant is King there. They stopped traffic at will and somehow it was ok.. I think they can and will go to the bathroom anywhere, anytime they want.. It was pretty cool!!
INTERESTING! LOL! Well, for me elephants should do their business where they wanted to.. Because they’re animals dude! But toileting is quite good too. :)
Patong is great if you are looking for nightlife and parties, but I prefer Naiharn for a nice and relaxing holiday