On Thursday, March 10, 2011, the Pacific Princess arrived in Laem Chabang, Thailand which is the port of entry for Bangkok. By 8:00am the ship was along pier side and ready for passengers to go ashore. The weather was hazy with some intermittent showers during the day and the temperature reached 86 degrees.
Most passengers who took tours elected to venture some 2 ½ hours into Bangkok for the day. But 40 passengers, including the two of us decided to go to the Pattaya Elephant Village Thailand for the Elephant Kraal. Elephants played a critical role in Thai history and they play a significant role in modern Thailand. This unique tour offered the opportunity to see a wild elephant roundup and witness activities and how their mahouts train these mighty beasts for work.
Once at the elephant village we were given a short presentation about the activities we would see and then set out to meet a mother elephant and a 4 month old baby elephant. We had the opportunity to feed the mother bunches of bananas, but not feed the baby. The very rambunctious baby elephant wanted the bananas and would even throw dirt on you with his truck if you didn’t give him any bananas. But the trainers told us to ignore his naughty ways since he was too you to eat bananas. From there we went to a small covered stadium and watched the elephants perform different tasks. After about 30 minutes, they asked if anyone to ride to bathe the elephants. Cindy volunteered to do the job and was escorted up a stairway to a tree house where she boarded one of the elephants. The elephant didn’t have the typical wooden chair for riding; rather Cindy was riding bareback accompanied by one of the mahouts. Off they went to a nearby lake for their bath. But to Cindy’s surprise the elephant decided that she would dive below the water to cool off. Down the both of them went into the lake. The mahout tried to hold on to Cindy, but she continued to slide further the water until was completely wet up to her shoulders. All of our fellow passenger cheered and cheered as she went further down into the water, shouting “Do It Again, Do It Again”.
There were plenty of beautiful orchids in the Elephant Village. This is very typical of Thailand.
The ship departed on schedule at 7:00pm for our next port of call, Kosamui, Thailand.
