Premiere: Bring the Elephant Home on Thai TV!!
Yesterday Lek was followed around the whole day by journalists from Channel 7 and ITV Hot news. Apparently they heard of the news about Leks nomination by Time Magazine for Hero of Asia. Lek shows them that baby elephants can also be trained with love instead of the traditional abusive Phajaan ritual. For the first time Lek is being treated like a hero and not a rebel by the press. During an interview with ITV, Lek calls me over. And I have to tell them what the difference is between a commercial elephant show and the elephants in the park. I tell them about the elephant show in Sampran, and how the baby elephants reacted. Baby elephants are supposed to act like baby’s: playful, busy, going on adventure but always with mummy’s or auntie’s trunk in the area. Exactly like the elephants behave in the ENP: that is the difference. They ask me what I’m doing in the ENP so I get a chance to tell them my story. That I came to ENP three years ago and that I am trying to help Lek. That through Bring the Elephant Home I am trying to get the elephants of the street and into parks like the ENP. ITV was filming all afternoon, so I didn’t expect it to get on the news. When the press has left I talk to Lek. She has been called by the Royal palace that morning. The people from the office thought it was a restaurant so they said that they didn’t have time for them. Fortunately Lek overheard and called them back. It was in fact the princess of Thailand who wanted to talk to Lek. Another filmcrew had done some research on the history of the ENP. All the problems Lek has had as a “rebel”, all the times that she has been called a liar, they all checked it out. They are coming for a week to make up their own minds on Lek. Will Lek finally, after the long battle that she has fought, get what she deserves?
Last night we watched ITV Hot News with the whole crew. Lek made a positive impression. And all the things that where important came to the light. They showed some lovely footage of Lek with a baby elephant that was being raised with love. Then they showed the whole interview with me. We made each others stories complete, Lek told them about her ideal image of raising baby elephants and I told them I thought that tourists needed to see elephants in their natural environment, it is much more fun that way. So Bring the Elephant HOME has only been in Thailand a week already has been on the telly! WOW I am proud!
