Royal Elephant Museum Bangkok '' Chang Ton Museum ''
[1] Elephants and Thai People- The Royal Elephant National Museum was once an elephant stable for the Kings. For Kings the rare white Elephants were a symbol. But there is much more to be understood by visitors. Elephants were the war machines of the past. The Vietnamese destroyed the Mongol invaders with elephants, the Burmese at Pagan were slaughtered by the Mongols who then found ways to destroy the Burmese elephant armies, the Siamese Tai waged war with elephants in the wars with the Burmese and the Khmer Empires. It was not until the Portuguese sold canons to South East Asia did war fare change.
- But the more relevant thing to appreciate is the character and personality of elephants as social animals. Visitors from countries without Asian elephants fail to appreciate how powerful yet gentle they are. In social groups they are not unlike people and the young ones similarly are like children. Accordingly a visit to Thailand might include an engaging experience in meeting elephants. This is best done in North Thailand and as explained elsewhere in this web site.
[2] Chang Ton Museum
- This museum is in the compound of the Dusit Garden Palace. '' Chang '' is the Thai word for Elephant.
- The Ministry of Education converted this former Elephant stable to a museum in 1988. In the first building are pictures and artifacts and in the second building a model '' white elephant ceremony ''. Even today such ceremonies are held when a new white elephant is born or found in Thailand.
