My intention to undergo elephant mahout training next May has hit a stumbling block. I had planned to take a14-day course from the National Elephant Institute, in Lampang province in the North. However, in talking to them, I learn they have a new two-person minimum on all of their courses. The wife won’t go near elephants, and no one else I know wants to take the training.
So I may have to go with the non-profit foundation Elephantstay, in Ayutthaya province in the Central region about 2 1/2 hours north of Bangkok. They do allow lone students and have a 14-day course for 39,200 baht (US$1153). But that’s a little longer than I wanted and a little more than I was hoping to pay. The 10-day course at the National Elephant Institute recently rose from 30,000 baht to 35,000 baht. I was willing to go that much, but I think I may now have to settle for only the three-day course at Elephantstay for 9000 baht ($265), plus an extra 3000 baht for each day longer if I want. That will still give me plenty of elephant time, and then I can take the wife on holiday up into the North afterward like we were planning only maybe for a bit longer.