The Elephant Freedom Village is a community-based elephant camp in northern Thailand, founded by an Indigenous elephant keeper named Non Chai. An alternative to tourism companies and establishments where abuse is more common, the Elephant Freedom Village is where visitors can experience the way Non Chai’s people, the Karen, have been living and working with elephants for thousands of years. “The elephant is family,” he tells Nicola Sebastian. In this piece for Atmos, Sebastian shares Non Chai’s vision for a different kind of elephant habitat—one where animals and humans coexist alongside one another through their lifetimes, and where the Karen are able to practice their way of life.
It took a few years and many challenges, but in 2019, Non Chai was able to bring five of his family’s elephants home to his camp, Elephant Freedom Village. There, the animals spend their days foraging in the village’s community forest and taking baths in the river, accompanied by their keepers. Visitors pay to “help” the mahouts feed, exercise, and bathe their elephants as they normally would, while learning about Karen culture. At night, the elephants are brought to a paddock, to keep them safe from pesticide-sprayed crops and disgruntled neighbors.
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