No More Elephants

At least not in Bangkok. According to an article in the Thai newspaper “The Nation,” authorities are banning elephants from the city. One of the fascinating things that I love about Bangkok is the chance that you can see one of the big beasts lumbering around some of the major streets at night. That being said, however, it is actually very cruel to the animals that their handlers put them in this position. The handlers try to get tourists to buy food from them to feed the elephants, thereby lining the handlers’ pockets. The city is quite a bad environment for elephants, so I hope the ruling has a good effect. Apparently, this is not the first time the authorities have tried to get the elephants off the streets and into their natural habitat. Let’s hope it works this time.