Thailand: Land of the Elephants

Thailand is a beautiful country that is inundated with tourists. One of the most popular things to do in Chiang Mai is to visit an elephant sanctuary. We were lucky to be able to do that with our new Squad Leader team. We visited Elephant Jungle Paradise Park. Though we didn’t know it when we booked the tour, it is a sanctuary owned by Thai Christians, who started believing in Jesus when their village was visited by missionaries. We even got to pray for them and the elephants before we left! They only have 5 elephants, and they are very well taken care of. They do not ride the elephants, because it is actually very harmful and painful for the elephants. We had the opportunity to feed them fruits and vegetables, cover them with mud (which is like moisturizer for them), and bathe them in the river. It was a very fun day!

Elephants love to give “kisses!”

Our whole group with the elephants.

One of my favorite things about our adventure day with the elephants was the unexpected opportunity to share about Jesus with the people in our group. We had two boys from Canada, a photographer from Pennsylvania, and a guy from England in our group. On the 1 1/2 hour ride to and from the elephants, they were naturally curious about why we were in Thailand and traveling the world, so we shared about the World Race, and that led into some great discussion about religion, grace, and unconditional love from the Father. Sometimes off days and adventure days are the greatest opportunities for ministry!

Here are 5 unique things I noticed during our time in Thailand:

1. Thais drive on the left side of the road. There was a time that almost all countries drove on the left side, and Thailand never switched over to the right side. This website is very informative about driving standards around the world: https://www.worldstandards.eu/cars/driving-on-the-left/

2. They deeply revere their King. There are pictures of him inside every shop, restaurant, etc. Also, before a movie, everyone in the theater has to stand up and watch a slideshow of his life.

Notice the giant picture of the King on display at this school

3. Songthaews (sung-tows) are the form of public transportation. It is essentially a pick up truck with a bed cover and two benches where you can sit.

RJ, Kelsey, Zach, Tim, Jaivie, and Grace in the back of a songthaew

4. Buddhist culture permeates everything – there are temples all over the cities and countryside, Buddhist altars inside almost every building, and they even have Buddhist symbols on their money.

5. There are 7/11 convenience stores EVERYWHERE. You can usually see another 7/11 from the door of one. They have smoothies, sandwiches and Asian meals for super cheap that they will warm up for you. We lived off of $1 grilled ham and cheese and $1 Chicken Pad Thai for RJ. #worldracebudget