Today’s Animal World: Our Co-Inhabitants will be presented in Thai and English, with subtitles in Arabic, Aulacese (Vietnamese), Chinese, English, French, German, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Mongolian, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Thai.

This is Thailand, and the nature park where I live is way up in the north of the country, near a city called Chiang Mai.

Welcome, friendly viewers, to today’s edition of Animal World: Our Co-Inhabitants, featuring the first in a two-part series on the Elephant Nature Park in northern Thailand where rescued elephants live freely in beautiful natural surroundings.

They leave behind their previous harsh lives where they were forced to do hard labor, circus tricks, or other degrading activities often while being chained. The sanctuary, which includes “Elephant Haven” a separate natural area a few hours away from the Park, has gained worldwide recognition.

In 2005, Ms. Sangduen “Lek” Chailert, the vegan founder of the Elephant Nature Foundation which created the Park, was named “Asian Hero of the Year” by the respected news periodical TIME Magazine. The Park has also received attention from other international media outlets, appearing in publications such as National Geographic magazine and being the subject of documentaries by the Discovery Channel, the National Geographic Channel, Animal Planet, the BBC, CNN, KTV, RAI, and major Thai TV channels.

During childhood Sangduen became friends with an elephant called Togkum or Golden One. Togkum was given to her grandfather, who was a traditional healer, by a patient as an expression of gratitude for saving his life. As chance would have it, Ms. Chailert had the opportunity to care for many elephants during her teens and this led her to decide to dedicate her life to these gentle giants.

Actually I didn’t plan for this, however I have always loved animals. One day when I was in senior high school, a group of missionaries were looking for volunteers to help with translation of the local language. As I wanted to learn English and I could speak the local dialect, I volunteered and the missionaries helped me get up into the mountain. It must have been fate, as I traveled to the Karen villages where the logging industry was taking place.

I met some elephants and I was shocked by the maltreatment of the elephants which were working dragging logs. Some of the elephants were blind in both eyes, crippled, with sores all over their body and were still forced to drag the logs time and again. After I left that day the images were still clear in my mind and it was heart wrenching. It was like it was a plea for help which wouldn’t leave me even when I ate or slept. Anything I did, I saw the images.

So I decided to get a job when I was 16 and buy medicine for the elephants. I went with the missionaries again up the mountain to deliver the medicine. But after a while the more I went into the jungle, the more elephants I saw. I decided to become a volunteer and come out to work so that I could get medicine for them and then I would go back into the jungle to look after them. This was how I started this work.

Then one day when I was administering the medicine and there were so many of them I started to think that this would be never-ending. I wasn’t a veterinarian so I thought the only way was to find a home for them. How was I going to find a home for them when I was just a mountain person? I always thought to myself that if I had the opportunity I would make a home for them.

Ms. Chailert kept the dream alive in her heart of making a refuge so she could ensure the well-being of the magnificent elephants. Through the help of a friend from the USA, her noble vision to create an elephant haven was realized in 1995. In 2003, the Park shifted to a larger site in the Mae Taeng valley.

One day this friend of mine told me that he knew someone who would buy land and donate it to the elephants. In 1992 I bought my first elephant; I had to get someone to look after her as I didn’t have a place of my own. Then in 2003 after a very long time a rich man in Texas (USA) bought this land for us. So it started from there.

Before I had nine elephants and I took them to the national park however the officials always told us to leave. But now as we have someone who bought the land for us, they have a permanent home and the elephants have a place to live.

Today the sanctuary houses 34 rescued elephants from all over Thailand.

We have helped over 200 elephants. Most of them we can’t bring here. We help the owners look after them for a while and return them to their owners. Most of the severely injured elephants were in the logging industry, elephants which walk the streets, homeless beggar elephants, performing elephants and elephants which give tours in the jungle.

These elephants before they came here had mental problems. In addition to physical abuse, our biggest problem is mental health. At this point we need a lot of time for mental health treatment. The treatment uses nature and the giving of love and compassion.

Family is the most important thing to elephants. And in the wild, we stick together in groups called herds. Although most of the elephants here at the Park are not related, we want to be part of a family like you.

When we return, we’ll learn about the compassionate Jumbo Express project set up by the Elephant Nature Foundation. Please stay tuned to Supreme Master Television.

Welcome back to Animal World: Our Co-Inhabitants for our program featuring the loving Elephant Nature Park in northern Thailand’s Chiang Mai province. Including a separate area called Elephant Haven; the Park provides a 386 hectare refuge for 34 rescued elephants from all parts of Thailand, who now live peacefully in a river valley amidst forested mountains.

Also since 1995, the Jumbo Express, a free mobile health clinic operated by the Elephant Nature Foundation which created the Park, has visited 100 villages populated by the native hill peoples, various Thai communities, and refugee camps in the area from the Thailand-Burma border up to the Laos-China border to treat elephants.

This originated from when I traveled into the jungle to hand out medicine, so the elephant ambulance was created. Another treatment for elephants is the prevention of illnesses and the only way for this to work is to train the elephant carers on the way to care for them. We can’t just go and talk to the carers. We have to show them that we care for them also, so we also give medicines to people.

Sometimes we will hire doctors from the hospitals to come with us. We use some of our funds to hire doctors who will help distribute medicines to the people. We also have healthcare projects that don’t involve doctors. Indigenous hill peoples live in remote areas and it takes a lot of traveling time to come see a doctor. When our mobile health clinic goes to visit the indigenous hill peoples, lots of children will run and follow our vehicle – a stream of red as Karen hill people like to wear red. It is a wonderful feeling.

We see a lot of disadvantaged villagers, sometimes we end up coming back with no shoes. When we see that they do not have shoes, we take ours off and give it to them. The kids tell us it’s good that you do not return in just your underwear. We come and give everything and this is a really satisfying feeling. Sometimes we give them the shirt that we are wearing and love very much but they are without. It is a really satisfying feeling; I can’t explain it. When we go there everything that we do has so much meaning.

Each new elephant to the Park is warmly welcomed by the existing residents, a touching start to the lifelong friendships that form between the marvelous beings that live there.

When we receive a new elephant, they come individually. They come at different times and under different circumstances. Some elephants we rescue from the jungle, others from the roads. When the new elephants arrive, it is an amazing scene. When the elephant arrives and comes out of the truck, we will take him to be introduced to the others. There will be a very loud welcoming reception.

They will come to interview, to touch and will talk for many hours. They will talk very loud. If anyone hasn’t seen elephants talking together they will see it now. It is absolutely magnificent. They will ask questions and answer questions. When the new one arrives there will be approximately 20 trunks pointing in that direction asking questions. After asking the question, the other will answer. We don’t know what they are asking but we know they are communicating.

Once they meet each other, no matter who it is, where they come from, once they arrive at this home they receive only love. They will love and accept each other. For example Jokia, a blind elephant and Mother Perm. Mother Perm came first; she was the first elephant at this center. Jokia was the second elephant. Once they met each other, they started talking immediately. They talked to each other, they hugged each other. Once they lived together for awhile and they used their trunks to hug and greet each other.

After a while they stayed together and did not leave one another. Mother Perm has good eyesight and will eat grass. Jokia will use his trunk to find the grass but he will be a bit slower. Once Mother Perm is about 50 meters away, Jokia will call her. Mother Perm will then quickly come and hug and talk to him. It’s like she would apologize for being too far away and that she will come back.

A lot of people come here to film documentaries. When they have finished filming they will take pictures. Jokia will then ask what is happening at the front. Mother Perm will tell him, “It’s all right, I will go have a look,” as elephant vision is not very good. They can’t see very far. So Mother Perm will walk forward. So we have to tell the cameraman not to come too close to this pair of elephants as they are very protective. They will tell each other what is happening.

Indeed, elephants are remarkable beings who truly deserve our respect and protection. May Heaven bless the souls of these incredibly loving, soft-hearted vegan giants! Join us again tomorrow on Animal World: Our Co-Inhabitants to discover more about the lives of the elephants at the Elephant Nature Park and their moving stories, as well as to see the presentation of Shining World Compassion Award to Ms. Sangduen “Lek” Chailert.

For more details on the Elephant Nature Park, please visit or

Thank you cherished viewers for your company on today’s program. Up next is Enlightening Entertainment, after Noteworthy News. May we always feel the love and light of Heaven.

Today’s Animal World: Our Co-Inhabitants will be presented in Thai, with subtitles in Arabic, Aulacese (Vietnamese), Chinese, English, French, German, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Mongolian, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Thai.

Everywhere in the world, we can observe and be touched by acts of kindness. People from all walks of life, faiths, and cultures extend themselves beyond the call of duty to help others unconditionally. Through their noble deeds, humanity as a whole is elevated.

To commend virtuous actions and encourage more people to be inspired by their examples, Supreme Master Ching Hai has lovingly created a series of awards, including the Shining World Leadership Award, Shining World Compassion Award, Shining World Hero and Heroine Awards, Shining World Honesty Award, Shining World Protection Award, Shining World Intelligence Award, and Shining World Inventor Award, to recognize some of the most exemplary, generous, caring, and courageous people who walk amongst us.

Today, in the second part of a two-part series, we celebrate the work of Shining World Compassion laureate Ms. Sangduen “Lek” Chailert the vegan founder of the Elephant Nature Foundation that protects and rehabilitates abused elephants in Thailand.

Situated in Chiang Mai province, some 60 kilometers from the city of the same name, the Elephant Nature Park, which was established by the Foundation, has served as a rescue center and sanctuary for elephants since 1995. Currently, the Park houses 34 elephants who all previously led horrendous lives as they were forced to do hard labor, circus tricks, or other degrading activities, often while chained.

We have helped over 200 elephants. Most of them we can’t bring here. We help the owners look after them for a while and return them to their owners. Most of the severely injured elephants were in the logging industry, elephants which walk the streets, homeless beggar elephants, performing elephants and elephants which give tours in the jungle.

The 386-hectare refuge, which includes “Elephant Haven” a separate natural area located a few hours away from the Park, has been featured in such publications as National Geographic magazine and been the subject of documentaries produced by the Discovery Channel, the National Geographic Channel, Animal Planet, the BBC, CNN, KTV, RAI, and major Thai TV channels.

In 2005, Ms. Chailert was named “Asian Hero of the Year” by the respected news publication TIME Magazine. The elephants of the Park are very close and look after one another like family.

The elephants are very smart and love each other very much. There is another couple, an old elephant who was 75 years old and a crippled elephant. They loved each other very much. Every day we saw that when the old elephant fell asleep the crippled elephant would stand and watch like a lifeguard by the beach. The old elephant stayed here three and half years.

I can tell you that the love of an elephant is pure. It is love with no conditions. It is a love that humans should consider. They are animals with compassion, they do not eat meat. They are the greatest of vegetarians

Sangduen Chailert is truly an altruistic person. Thus it is no surprise that the Elephant Nature Park is also a welcoming home for a variety of other animals.

We try to teach everyone here to live in harmony with all types of animals including insects, crickets, lizards and all beings that live here. We must see their importance. We try to teach everyone who comes here. We have 20 cows, nearly 30 buffalos, 70 dogs and 30 cats, maybe more at the moment. We also have horses, pigs, wild pigs, anyone we can help, we help. This bird we have also rescued, but not caged.

Once we have rescued them we will look after them in a birdcage. And when they are well we let them go. Whoever abandons their animals here we accept. Actually we don’t have a policy to accept abandoned animals. However if they are abandoned here we can’t push them away. We try to explain to the people who come here that even a spider you shouldn’t kill them.

We should live with all beings in harmony. Live together in peace. We will teach everyone this. We try to explain that every animal that lives on this Earth has a purpose. Our cows and buffalos have come from the abattoir. There has been news about every type of animal that has escaped from the abattoir. People who have helped these animals, but don’t know where to care for them bring them here. And we can’t turn them away.

A protector of all life, Ms. Chailert promotes the plant-based diet and lets the public know about this wonderful, compassionate lifestyle.

We try to tell our guests to be vegetarian. We have quite a lot of guests who are not vegetarian and some of them don’t believe our concept. But if we love animals… it’s like you say you love elephants, but why don’t you love pigs? You don’t love cats.

Every living creature if we have an opportunity to really connect with them they will communicate with us. Pigs are very smart animals. Every living creature loves life just like us. This is what I have seen. I have been involved with animals since I was a kid, and I was very lucky that my family gave me this opportunity.

When we return, we will hear more about the benevolent work of Ms. Sangduen “Lek” Chailert and feature highlights from the presentation of the Shining World Compassion Award to her. Please stay tuned to Supreme Master Television.

Welcome back to the Shining World Compassion Award series, featuring Ms. Sangduen “Lek” Chailert, founder of the Elephant Nature Foundation. Elephant Nature Park is located in Chiang Mai province, with a valley, a flowing river and forested mountains to help revive the gentle spirits of rescued elephants who have come from all parts of Thailand.

To Ms. Chailert, each of the elephants is like a close family member. What lies ahead for the Elephant Nature Foundation and Elephant Nature Park? We asked Sangduen Chailert about her organization’s future plans.

This is only the start of the project. Our main project is the elephant home. We have prepared land for an elephant home. It is quite a big piece of land. There are waterfalls and a lush jungle. The first group of elephants we release there will be healthy elephants. They will get to live in their natural habitat. We will let them be free. Tourists will not be allowed to have contact with them. They will get to live in their real home. They will get to live in their natural habitat.

Tourists will only be allowed to view them from a high tower. The people who go to the tower must not disturb the habitat, mustn’t smoke or make lots of noise. It will be like their real home where humans do not disturb them. Even though we go in to watch them, we must go quietly. And this home, apart from elephants, we plan to help other animals such as gibbons.

No animal will be caged; they will be able to roam naturally. Currently we are preparing the jungle so that it becomes like the natural state so that we can release them in five years time. We will have a new home for them.

For her open-heart and sincere concern for the elephants of Thailand and other animals, Supreme Master Ching Hai recently honored Ms. Sangduen “Lek” Chailert with the Shining World Compassion Award. The following is an excerpt from a warm letter sent by Master:

This Award is presented in recognition for your outstanding efforts to protect the Asian elephants of Thailand, lovingly caring for them, and for your selfless spirit of sacrifice to better the lives of our co-inhabitants and thus create a kinder world. Thank you noble caregiver, for uplifting our world with your inspirational example of love in action. You are making a difference to the wellbeing of these gracious beings.

May all our co-inhabitants thrive in safety and happiness, surrounded by love. For selflessly caring for elephants in need, for your vision, wisdom, high-ideals and kind- hearted benevolence, and for being a dedicated and noble role model, we hereby applaud and celebrate the compassionate deeds of the saintly Lek, Ms. Sangduen Chailert, founder of the Elephant Nature Foundation. With Great Honour, Love and Blessings, Supreme Master Ching Hai

Ms. Chailert also received a beautiful crystal Award plaque. Inscribed on it is the following: In Recognition Of Pure-Hearted Loving Concern And Selfless Service Safeguarding And Caring For Thailand’s Magnificent Elephants Creating A Brighter Future For Humanity And All God’s Creatures With Compliments And Gratitude For Your Inspiring Noble Dedication To The Welfare Of Our Animal Friends

Our local Association members presented Ms. Chailert with an assortment of Master’s CDs and DVDs, as well as her #1 international best sellers “The Birds in My Life,” “The Dogs in My Life,” and “The Noble Wilds.” Supreme Master Ching Hai also provided the Elephant Nature Foundation a gift of US$10,000 to advance its objectives of saving the Asian elephant from extinction and fostering their welfare.

I would like to thank Supreme Master Ching Hai for this recognition of what I have done. This has given me more inspiration and I am greatly honored that you have given me this Award and that you have seen the importance and you are aware of the importance of the Thai elephant the Asian elephant.

I thank you so much. I have followed the work of your organization for a long time and I am very impressed by the way you inspire people around the world so that people around the world turn to the pure foods of the vegetarian diet which I think is a must. In my eyes you are a wonderful person. I am also vegan. To get to where I am now I know that most people believe that they need to eat meat.

But when the day comes when a person like you stands up and becomes an inspiration for the world to return to a plant-based diet, a diet which doesn’t disturb the life force of the Earth, I think this person is extraordinary and I am in agreement that your work has benefited the world. Thank you very much for bringing your team here to give me this Award which is a great honor.

I am very proud of this. I would like to thank you and your team immensely for your love and compassion for the world’s animals and I hope that what I do can help bring support to your cause. Thank you very much.

Sangduen Chailert, we thank you again for your impressive and noble example of kindness to the gentle giants of Thailand. May Heaven continue to bless you in all the work that you do for the elephants and all other animals!

I like the way you smile and let me watch a while I love the way you make me feel I’d give the world away to spend each waking day alone with you, my Love.

For more information on the Elephant Nature Park, please visit or

Gracious viewers, thank you for joining us today on our program. Up next is Enlightening Entertainment, after Noteworthy News. May stories of goodness and truth inspire us all to be the very best we can be.