Everybody enjoys elephants and an elephant ride. But exploitation of these wild animals is a major problem in Thailand.

Specially the elephants working in the street in all major Thai cities. Often those elephants will be taken very young away from their natural habitat. Even if this practice is forbidden, police is facing with a huge problem, what to do with them. To not give money to feed those slaved wild animals is a start to clean up the streets. But you can do more by making a visit to the TERF in Khao Yai and enjoy an elephant ride, get informations about different conservation projects.

The Thai Elephant Research and Conservation Fund (TERF) is an ngo based in Khao Yai, along Thanarad road in Mu Si, it’s a good idea to stop there and even make a donation.
The TERF work on different projects through Thailand, their main missions are:
-Conservation of Thai elephants through interdisciplinary research and use of traditional local knowledge
-Enabling public participation in elephant conservation through education, awareness raising and encouraging positive action.
-Working with others from Thailand and around the world for the benefit of Thai elephants.

TERF participates as well on those projects:

-HEC, Human Elephant Conflict: information on cases of incident of elephant feeding of the farmers’ cultivating area in different locations

-Education: Giving information on Thai elephants in various methods to the public: “Little Elephants in the Wild” camp, a programm for school,  aimed at offering junior and high school students direct experience with the habitat of wild elephants in Khao Yai National Park

-TECC: The small attempt to help the ‘streets elephants’ to gain better life conditions.
Located in the Khao Yai TERF on Thanarad road,  TECC is home to a small population of domesticated Asian Elephants, together with their mahouts. The main objective of TECC is to provide these ‘streets elephants’ (chang baan) better life conditions while offering their mahouts instruction and the opportunity to be part in the awareness raising efforts required to address the critical situation of Asian elephant conservation within Thailand and Southeast Asia as a whole.TECC give public Elephant knowledge to community by camping with students within in Khao Yai area which from around 160 schools.
TECC propose activities as well; such as riding elephants, giving fruits and food, in order visitors to raise donations or sponsorship for further purposes of The Elephants Center for Conservation.
The TECC, Mahouts Life Enhancement Project has as mission to improve Mahouts’ Life Quality through participation in knowledge gathering and creation activities, alternative and renewable energy research and development projects, and providing welfare support to their families.

-Tree for Elephant: ‘planting more forest’ activities. Together as a joint project; Wild Elephant Research and Conservation Fund (WERF) and the Dutch Bring the Elephant Home (BTEH) are planting 25.000 trees to connect a community forest and the National Park. In hopes to rebuild and conserve the forest, land and providing food and habitat for the elephants and other animals that are in dire need before they face extinction. More on tree for elephant and Bring Elephant Home website.
This Project mission is to expand through reforestation the wild elephants’ habitat, and build green corridors between isolated populations, coordinating with public and private sector efforts to follow a reforestation plan within and around wild elephants’ habitats throughout Thailand. Also, it is among this Projects’ target accomplishments to identify the main areas within and around Khao Yai National Park demanding reforestation and mobilize resources for these activities, aiming at the planting of wildlife corridors between isolated populations and forest area, and to execute reforestation plans in the surroundings Khao Yai National Park and raise awareness towards conservation of wild elephants’ habit

-Research: The gathering of conducted surveys, studies, researches and other relative documents
on elephants

Thai Elephant Research and conservation center
99/9 Moo 4,Tambon Musee, Pak Chong, (opposite Fabb café), Nakon Ratchasima,Thailand. 30130
Web: TERF
Telephone : 044-297406 , 08-1799-8727

Links:
Bring the Elephant Home and the forest program in Khao Yai