I saw an elephant… my first elephant. Well, it was far away and it was a domestic elephant but still… it was impressive. So, back at my accommodation, I read to learn more.
Emblematic animal of Thailand
The elephant is the emblem of the Kingdom of Thailand. It is represented everywhere, really everywhere. Sculptures, paintings, literature, national emblems, paper money,... It is everywhere, as much in temples as on the street or in parks. It is known to bring peace, success and prosperity. There is even a beer that bears its name, CHANG.
A White Elephant
Facts First... White elephants are not white. Their skin is more of a reddish brown, turning pale pink when wet.
Status of a white elephant that belonged to the king
credit: Vecteezy.com
From Buddha to the Quebec Health System
Everyone is familiar with the expression "a white elephant" but do you know its origin?
The story goes that on the eve of Buddha's birth, his mother dreamed that a white elephant came to her and gave her a lotus flower.
This explains why the white elephant is sacred to Buddhists. So sacred that it is not allowed to make it work. Except that... an elephant eats a lot. Between the obligation to treat the animal well and the prohibition to make it work, its owner can quickly go bankrupt. Fortunately, a law provides that all white elephants belong to the King... and he, who currently has eleven, surely has the means to feed them.
Unfortunately, we have no king in Quebec to maintain our modern white elephants.
An elephant eats...
An elephant eats... a lot. Every day, it devours 100 to 200 kilograms of ripe bananas, leaves, bamboo, tree bark, etc. Its gluttony keeps it busy for 18 hours a day.
The counterpart of this gluttony is droppings. Since it can only digest 40% of what it eats, the result is a phenomenal amount of droppings, 50 to 60 kg per day.
So what to do with all this droppings? Eureka! Paper.
A Chiang Mai company specializes in this rather unusual activity, the Poopoopaper company. Tourists in search of a thrill can even participate in the production.
credit:Poopoopaper.com
There are others who are even more "inventive". Like this Canadian who took advantage of it to create the most expensive coffee in the world, "Black Ivory". He adds coffee beans to elephant food, recovers them partially digested in the dung, and then makes you pay a high price to drink it, more than $2,000 per kilo.
As for me, I decided to leave this pleasure to the snobs of this world and confine myself to the small cafes that can be found everywhere in Thailand and which serve a very honorable product at a much lower price.
Warm-Blooded Tanks
Thanks to their strength and intelligence, elephants have been used since ancient times as war machines. They were used to instill fear in the enemy. Imagine Alexander the Great's surprise when he first encountered them in Iraq.
Credit: AKG-Images
P.S. I'm still curious... if you ever taste "Ivoire Noir", please share your experience with me but... no need to keep any for me.
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