Tuesday 8 December 2015

Elephantstay honored with legacy!

Elephantstay and the Phra Kochabaan Foundation would like to thank Paul Anthony Gatien for leaving us part of his estate to continue our work and care of our elephants. Because of his generosity we are able to proceed with projects that will enhance and improve the lives of our elephants.
As many of you know we have been devastated by floods during the rainy seasons over the years. This in turn has caused many problems for the elephant's sleeping areas. Every time we get rain the night areas become boggy and too wet for the elephants to sleep. So we must move them outside to sleep elsewhere.
We have started to bring in soil to raise the land higher and heavy machinery has been forming the land to create raised sleeping areas so when it rains the water will run off and not sit where the elephants sleep. Each sleeping area will also have a mound of soil to act like a pillow or rest which will help our older elephants get up in the morning. We will use the heavy machines to drive down concrete posts tethering the elephants in a more effective and secure way. We are improving the drainage system so the water drains away and does not sit there making the ground more boggy. 
We are changing our watering system to effectively increase the volume and speed of water. This will bring water more efficiently for drinking and bathing. The three areas that we are targeting is the elephant nursery, the communal shower and the Elephantstay elephants. To do this we have to increase the size of our pipes, faucets, hoses and purchasing a more powerful pump.
Scratchng or rubbing posts is something we have been planning to happen for some time now. Because of the years of flooding we have lost all our large trees which the elephants loved to rub and scratch on, which was good for their skin. We will erect two sets of scratching posts in two locations. Each set will consist of three types of posts protruding from the ground at different angles so the elephants can rub all of their body easily.
One of our bull elephants, Yod Yeam, has a disability. His leg was broken when during the night another bull got his chain and attacked him. Because of this, his leg is stiff and he has trouble walking. We are making him a structure to reside in during the day which has a roof for shade and sand floor. There will also be horizontal supports for him to lean on and alleviate the pressure of his good legs. This structure will make him more comfortable and improve his quality of life.
These projects are very costly and the legacy of 50,000 AUD from Paul Anthony Gatien has meant we can achieve these goals.
We would also like to thank Alex Maroulis, executor and trustee of Paul's estate for ensuring his legacy has been realized. 
Improving the lives of our elephants is an ongoing work in progress and we greatly appreciate the generous contribution Paul has made. 
You may want to consider making a legacy in your will to Elephantstay. We will ensure it makes a considerable difference to our elephants.


Please take a look at our facebook All help Elephantstay help Elephants for more photos.

Well treated old elephants

We are coming to that time of year again where the cold winds from China are on there way to Thailand. Our older elephants really feel the cold when it arrives so in preparation we have made some blankets for them.

Thursday 12 November 2015

Opening of our White Elephant Coffee House

Since 11 november 2015 you can have a relaxing moment at Wanchang in our newest WHITE ELEPHANT COFFEE HOUSE! Come and join us for a good cup of coffee with the power of the white elephant in it!

Monday 9 November 2015

Thailand lauded for elephant conservation


Friday 6 November 2015

Buddy our best Friend!



It is with heavy hearts that we have to inform you about the loss of one of our Elephantstay founders. Buddy aged 16 years passed away at 8am, 6th November 2015. Ewa and I got Buddy from the Lost Dogs Home in North Melbourne and he traveled with us to Thailand when we moved over here in 2006 to found Elephantstay. 
That first year was very tough on Ewa and myself. We experienced a destructive monsoon, then later that year we had to evacuate because of flooding. Ewa and I asked ourselves whether this was the life we wanted for ourselves and then the discussion would come to Buddy and the difficulty of taking him back to Australia. So we always decided to persevere and keep going. So now in 2015 and some 4,000 people who have been to Elephantstay you can thank Buddy as we may not have been here if it was not for him.
Buddy became a celebrity in his own right, loved by all, the only stumpy tailed Australian cattle dog in Thailand, he has appeared on Thai TV numerous times, playing soccer with the elephants, riding an ATV, herding baby elephants and more. He has been in newspapers here and in Australia, also photographed for books, "The Story of Local Heroes in Thailand" and "Old Dogs, Meditation and Mindfulness" Buddy was truly a legend.
Buddy as you cross the rainbow bridge to join Little Girl, Boonlua, Stripe and our elephants that are there, run, swim and play once more to your heart's content and tell them we miss them all.
Thank you Buddy it has been our privilege to have you in our life and by our side every step of the way.
Rest in Peace our beautiful boy always with love in our hearts.

Monday 2 November 2015

Elephantstay Memory Game

Please feel free to play our Elephantstay Memory Game, as it is online now for one month on PC.
You can find it as a Tab under Social Media!

Monday 31 August 2015

New baby born!

It's a boy!

August 30 2015, Jumbo congratulations to Chommonad on having the Kraal's 64th succesful birth!
This is her third baby. Both mum and baby are doing well.


Friday 21 August 2015

Welcome Ellice and Ben to our Elephantstay Team


We are thrilled to welcome Ellice Beaumont and Ben Gregory to our Elephant team staff and family. Ellice is a Vet nurse and animal control officer from Melbourne. Ben comes from working with big cats at Longleat in the UK. We are excited all our new staff are here and working so well together with everyone!

Peter and his art work



Stay tuned on Elephantstay Channel........Peter shows you why!

Subscribe now on:

https://www.youtube.com/royalelephantkraal/videos

Wednesday 19 August 2015

No time to sleep!



Elephantstay Channel programming new and old videos from your beloved elephant and all other elephants at Elephantstay.

Go to https://www.youtube.com/royalelephantkraal   and subscribe today.

Elephantstay newest videos on Youtube



Our weekly videos are online on Youtube!
Keep in touch with life in and around Elephantstay and see all the videos from us, our guests and professional organizations!
Subscribe now and be sure you don't miss anything!

Soiselee imitates Maradona


         Soiselee as Maradona, showing her love for food......ball!

Monday 17 August 2015

Weekly Elephantstay videos online!



Our weekly videos are online on Youtube!
Keep in touch with life in and around Elephantstay and see all the videos from us, our guests and professional organizations!
Subscribe and be sure you don't miss anything! www.youtube.com/royalelephantkraal

Friday 14 August 2015

Elephantstay Channel Activated!

As per today, Friday August 14 2015, we are programming weekly videos on Youtube of life in and around Elephantstay. Starting with 3 videos taken by our guests!

Subscribe now to follow and stay in touch with the life of your favorite elephant and all the other elephants in Elephant Village.


We will have a mix of our own videos as well as videos from our guests, so please stay tuned.

Click on Elephantstay to go to our Youtube Channel

Subscribe now and share! (Don’t have a YouTube account? If you have a Google account, your YouTube account will be ready to go. If you don’t have a Google account, signing up for one is easy. Just click here.)

Monday 10 August 2015

Thailand Queen's Birthday and Mothers Day and Worlds Elephant Day!

Wednesday August 12 is going to be a very special day again! As Thailand's Queen, Somdet Phra Nang Chao Sirikit Phra Borommarachininat will celebrate her Birthday. Then Thailand will also celebrate Mothers Day and it is Worlds Elephants Day! Of course everybody is welcome to join us in Ayutthaya for this occasion.

Tuesday 28 July 2015

Elephant Lovers Holiday


Tell tale travel come to us regularly on their elephant lovers holiday.If you don't want to travel alone and want to have a varied and awesome elephant filled time, join them this year! Hope to see you in November!      

Wednesday 22 July 2015

Farewell and good luck Neil and Matt

Neil and Matt wishing you the best holiday and much laughter, love and happiness for your next adventure and the future. Thanks for everything you have done for the Elephants, Elephantstay and us. Thanks for all the great laughs, fun, and support. You will be missed. Lots of love from all us at Elephantstay. xxx

Tuesday 14 July 2015

Tripadvisor Hall of Fame

The Elephantstay team is very proud, as this would not be possible without all your help!


THANK YOU ALL for writing the reviews on Elephantstay.

Wednesday 8 July 2015

New Elephant IDs

We are very proud to be issued the new national Elephant Identification papers. Due to our founder, Laithongrien (Pi Om) Meepan’s vision and efforts, the government adopted his idea for a centralized system that ensures all legal elephants are issued with these comprehensive ID’s that act as a passport and will be used to monitor ownership, all travel and even bull elephant's ivory! In recognition of Pi Om’s invaluable knowledge and contribution to the new system, the government used the same elephant as we do for the design. The colour pink is the official colour of the King of Thailand. This new computerized centralized system will certainly impact the illegal trade, capture and use of wild elephants and the illegal ivory trade. New born elephants will need to be registered within 30 days of birth which will also help to protect all elephants.



Thursday 4 June 2015

Birth Alert No 63

  Tuesday 5th May 2015
We were thrilled to welcome our 63th successful birth. Dok Fai gave birth to a beautiful baby girl at 2pm what a thrill having our second day time birth. Pang Chaatmanee is Dok Fai's 5th baby!
You can watch the birth here




Wednesday 22 April 2015

Wednesday 18 March 2015

Saturday 31 January 2015

FOR THE LOVE OF ELEPHANTS

Wow! Check out this fantastic book For the Love of Elephants. You can purchase a copy at www.poshdogpublishing.com   Jumbo thanks to Suzanne McCourt and Peter Derrett in their amazing work in getting this book made to benefit Elephantstay!


Thursday 8 January 2015

Birth Alert No 62

For the second time Namphueng gave birth very considerately at 8pm. A beautiful baby girl who has been named Gaowgalong. This is Namphueng's fourth baby.





Sunday 4 January 2015

Fundraising money helps Elephants

Ewa and I are back in Thailand from our recent trip to Australia. It was great to catch up with family and friends. While we were in Melbourne Elephant Encounters Jenny Jeanette Dickens and Rob Dickens were kind enough to host a fund raiser for Elephantstay which raised $4,000. Also included in that total are the sales from the book For the love of Elephants and some other donations. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their continued support and also give you an up date on what we have been doing with the money. Those of you that have been here in the rainy season would know that the paddock where the elephants sleep can get very boggy and end up with a lot deep foot prints from the elephants. So the first thing did was get some machines in there to smooth out the paddock and remove all the waste and water. Then after the paddock had dried out we made new tethering spots for the elephants to sleep this time we concreted them. We have made 10 spots so we can rotate the elephants if some spots are getting boggy. Next we had to replace one of the drinker pots as Yitor in her excitement of bashing her pineapple plant smashed one of them. So while were doing that job we thought it would be a good time to replace the outlet valves in the other pots as all the theads had worn out over the years. We also concreted inside the pots so they would drain easier. Also in this area we have had some problems with drainage since the new road has been built so modifications have been made to improve this and are still not finished. Four new sleeping mounds have been made for our older elephants to help them get up in the mornings. Lastly at this time of the year some of our olders girls can really feel the cold so we have made some blankets to put on them on those cold nights to keep them a bit warmer. We and the Elephants thank you for your support. Michelle Reedy Operations Director Elephantstay




Friday 2 January 2015

All of us at Elephantstay would like to wish everyone of our wonderful Elephantstayers and supporters the very best for 2015. May your year be filled with good health, love and happiness.