There are no rear lights, no windshield wipers and you won’t get much in the trunk except water, but at northern Thailand’s luxurious Anantara Golden Triangle Resort & Spa, guests can pass their driving test in just three days – on the back of an elephant.
The three-day mahout (elephant ‘driver’) training course takes place at the resort’s on-site Elephant Camp, which was set up in conjunction with Thailand’s National Elephant Institute and its Elephant Conservation Centre in Lampang (situated some 600km north of Bangkok). Anantara’s 160 acres of bamboo forest, nature trails and river banks provide an ideal habitat for the 32 elephants, all of whom have been rescued from the streets of Bangkok and other major cities in Thailand to participate in the resort’s eco-tourism programme. The resort’s resident elephants are all experienced mahout trainers – and full of personality.
Course content includes learning basic commands (pai=go, baen=turn and the all-important, how=stop) in order to drive an elephant, as well as river bathing and learning about the daily care of an elephant, their feeding requirements and a mahout’s lifestyle. At the end of three days a short ‘driving test’ is administered, after which guests receive their certificate of mahout competence.
Guests learn their elephant driving skills working with a qualified Thai mahout and an English-speaking guide, quite often the resorts own Director of Elephants, John Roberts, an Englishman with his own mahout certification. Roberts explains: “The programme is designed for those who would like to get a feel for the bond between elephant and mahout and to learn more than just the very basics.”
It’s certainly not a course for late risers. Elephants and their mahouts get up with the sun and sessions start each morning at 7am. The trainee’s first task is to collect their elephant from the forest and together with the mahout drive her back to the camp. The guide will explain what the mahout is doing and the commands he uses for his elephant. Once back at the camp, it’s time for morning ablutions (for the elephants that is). Then it’s off to work; starting with how to mount your elephant – up the side or leap-frogging over its bowed head. Once seated behind the elephant’s ears, the mahout teaches each trainee the basic movement commands and the trainees get used to walking up and down the camp, acclimatising themselves to the roll and sway of their mount. The morning course ends at around 9am.
On passing their test, trainees receive an elephant dung paper certificate of competence and a monogrammed mohom mahout shirt as a souvenir of their time at the Anantara Elephant Camp.
In addition to the three-day mahout course, other special packages are also available. Anantara Golden Triangle Resort & Spa is located 60km north of Chiang Rai’s international airport. For enquiries and reservations, please call + 66 (0) 5378 4084 or + 66 (0) 2 477 0760 or email goldentriangle@anantara.com. For more information, visit www.anantara.com.
