Why Is the Elephant Important in Thailand?

Elephants are a very important part of Thailand's history. They are symbols of power and peace. They are strong and gentle at the same time. But many years ago, they also did important work. They helped the Thai people get wood from their forests.

In the past, the Thai people cut down a lot of trees. In 1989, the government made a law to stop this. They wanted to keep the trees in the forest. Today, the Thai people cut down only a few trees. Some elephants work in the forests to help them. The forests are in the mountains. Many trucks and machines cannot go up the mountains. But elephants can. Men cut down the trees, and the elephants pick up the trees. Then the elephants carry the trees to the river. The trees float down the river to other men. The men cut the trees into pieces of wood.

In the past, elephants trained for many years to learn how to work. Each elephant had its own trainer, or mahout. A mahout spent his life with the same elephant. Fathers wanted their sons to be mahouts, too. Mahouts bought baby elephants for their sons. First, the baby elephant stayed with its mother. When the elephant was three years old, it lived with the boy. The boy and the elephant grew up together. The boy took care of the elephant. They learned a lot about each other.

A mahout trained, fed, and took care of his elephant. This was a difficult job. An elephant eats 550 pounds (250 kilos) of plants and drinks 80 gallons (300 liters) of water every day! It trained every day for six hours in the morning. The elephant got used to the mahout. The elephant remembered the mahout's voice and smell. It understood its mahout's instructions. The elephant obeyed its mahout. It did not obey other mahouts. The mahout trained the elephant for twenty years. At age twenty, the elephant began to work. Elephants worked for about thirty-five years. They stopped work at age fifty-five or sixty—like people.

Today, most elephants and mahouts have no work. But the elephants are still very important in Thailand. Visitors to Thailand want to see them. The Thai people are very proud of their elephants.

Why Do People Decorate Their Bodies?

People decorate their bodies for many reasons. They also decorate in different ways. Some groups of people have decorated their bodies for thousands of years. Other people want to look attractive. Other people want to belong to a group.

Some people decorate their lips, ears, and neck to be beautiful. For example, in Africa, the Surmese women wear a plate in their bottom lip. How do they do this? First, a mother makes a hole in her daughters bottom lip. Then she stretches the lip. Then she puts a small plate in it. As the daughter gets older, she puts in bigger and bigger plates. Other people in Africa put plates in their ears. They want the bottom of their ears to hang to their shoulders.

The Pa Daung women in Myanmar are called "giraffe women." They have very long necks, like giraffes. The women wear metal rings to stretch their necks. They wear more rings as they get older. Their necks become longer. Their necks are sometimes two or three times the normal size. Some women die if they take off the rings.

People also decorate their teeth to be beautiful. Many Americans and Europeans like white, straight teeth. They spend a lot of money to fix and clean their teeth. This is not true in other parts of the world. In east Africa, some people pull out their bottom teeth. They want their top teeth to stick out. In some parts of Asia, women used to paint their teeth black to look beautiful. Today, young people do not do this. In Indonesia, boys and girls file their teeth. A person with filed teeth will have a good and healthy life.

People around the world always liked tattoos. Europeans learned about tattoos around 1770. A famous English explorer named Captain Cook went to Tahiti. He saw people there with tattoos. The Tahitians called the decoration tatou. From this, we get the word tattoo. The Tahitians taught Cook and his sailors how to make tattoos. The sailors returned to England, and other people liked their tattoos. Soon tattoos spread to the rest of Europe. Many sailors still have tattoos.

Today, many different types of people have tattoos. For some people, body decorations are attractive. For other people, they are strange.

Where Is the Outback?

About one-half of Australia is desert. This area is the Outback. The name comes from the words "out in the back of the mountains and cities." The weather is very hot and dry, and the winds are strong. Sometimes there is no rain for many years. But when it rains, there is water everywhere. Not many people live in the Outback.

The people in the Outback have cattle or sheep farms. The farms are called stations. The stations are very big. Some stations are as big as a small country. Life is difficult because everything is far away. Sometimes it takes a day or two to drive to the next station. Towns are usually far away, too. People go to town once a week or once a month.

The station homes are very large because they have many purposes. They must be big so visitors can sleep there. Houses also have large rooms to keep extra things. Families buy a lot of food and supplies in town.

Life in the Outback is different in other ways. People get mail once a week. Children don't go to school every day. They study with a school called the School of the Air. The teacher and student talk to each other with a special radio. Most stations have an area for airplanes to land. It is like the station's own airport. Sick people call the Royal Flying Doctor service. A doctor gives advice over the radio. In an emergency, the doctor picks up the sick people in an airplane. Then they go to the nearest hospital.

People in the Outback are careful when they travel. Before a farmer travels to town, he tells a friend. The friend knows what time the farmer is coming. If the farmer is late, his friend knows there is a problem. The friend will look for the farmer. People must know how to do many things. They must know how to fix their car if it breaks down. They always carry extra gasoline, water, and parts for their car.

Life in the Outback is very difficult, but it is good, too. Here you are close to nature, and there are many unusual animals. You also have a lot of freedom.