It takes two men to run a good street-elephant-tourist operation. One rides the elephant clutching a long bamboo stick with a mean looking hook at one end. It takes a sharp blade and a lot of strength to change an elephants mind. The other man is a salesman who insists that white people buy a bundle of sugar cane to feed the elephant. The elephant for his part eats the sugar cane in a flash, throwing the sticks into his mouth and grabbing for more. The best trained elephants then recycle the bags, taking them from you with their trunks and passing them up to their riders.
Kristin and a friend in Khon Kaen