DW Made for Minds – Thailand: The elephant rescuer of Chiang Mai

En marge de son déplacement à Bangkok pour le sommet de l’APEC, Emmanuel Macron a remis  les insignes de chevalier de la Légion d’honneur à Mme Saengduean Chailert.

Lek Saengduean Chailert, founder and director of Elephant Nature Park, stands with two rescued elephants at her sanctuary. It has many supporters, especially on social media, so during the pandemic she and her team have been fundraising to provide food and resources to dozens of camps around Thailand.

Beyond the mountainous landscapes and lush jungles of Northern Thailand lies a haven for the gentlest of creatures. "Many of them arrive here like a zombie, some of them arrive here and they don't know they are elephants, they stand still ... they walk in a circle," said Sangduen "Lek" Chailert, founder of the Elephant Nature Park.

Judges’ comments: Apart from all the usual elephant activities they also do rainforest restoration, have educational programmes, they set up Eleflix during the pandemic, they have 4 vets on site, they have their Elephant Food Bank, they have their Farm to Herd initiative, and they set up their Jumbo Express mobile clinic. A clear winner!

Faa Mai is an elephant full of love for one particular person — she’s obsessed with Lek Chailert, founder of Elephant Nature Park (ENP), the Thailand elephant sanctuary that Faa Mai calls home. Sometimes that love makes her a bit overprotective. In a recent Facebook post, Chailert describes an incident in which Faa Mai wouldn’t let her out of her sight — or her grasp.