A luxury resort in Thailand offers a program to help distressed elephants and at the same time give visitors an unforgettable experience. 
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There really is no doubting the importance of the elephant in Thailand. Their likeness is everywhere, whether as a painting, a sculpture, printed on t-shirts or depicted on every possible manner of tourist tat you can imagine. The name itself, Thailand, means the land of the white elephant. It's a cruel irony then that the elephant can be so greatly revered by the people of Thailand, and still be so poorly treated. For many years the elephant was employed in a number of industries in the country, principally logging. But after the ban on domestic logging in Thailand's rainforests in 1989, hundreds of elephants and their handlers (mahouts) were suddenly made redundant. The mahouts, many fourth of fifth generation keepers, having no other skills to fall back on, brought their animals into the cities to try and scratch a living by begging and using the elephants as tourist draws. The distress this caused came from many different sources; pollution, heat, dehydration and, of course, the constant traffic. The Anantara Golden Triangle elephant sanctuary in Chiang Rai has rescued 33 elephants from this situation, as well as their mahouts and families. Located in the north of the country, on the border of Myanmar and Laos, the luxury resort and spa aims to educate its guests as well as providing visitors with an unforgettable experience of interacting with these beautiful creatures.
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