Elephant Museum Elephant World / Bangkok Project Studio

Elephants have a special status in Thailand. They are part of grand royal ceremonies and were war animals for Kings throughout the country’s ancient history. In addition to being respected, the relationship between elephants and Thai people is unique—being treated as family members rather than pets or labour. The bond is perhaps strongest in the village of the ethnic Kui in Surin province, north-eastern Thailand. For many centuries, the community has lived with elephants that their ways of life, from birth to death, can hardly be separated.