The Great Elephant Escape

The Great Elephant Escape describes the early years of Bring The Elephant Home.

By Antoinette van de Water:

In the summer of 2002, I volunteered at the Elephant Nature Park, a sanctuary for elephants in Northern Thailand. On one of my first nights in Thailand, in the middle of the crazy Bangkok traffic, I stumbled upon a young elephant. It was covered in wounds and infections, and its mahout asked tourists for money to feed it. My motivation grew ineradicable roots.

Back in the Netherlands, I couldn’t stop thinking about the street elephants I encountered in Bangkok. We founded ‘Bring The Elephant Home’ in 2004 with the idea of rescuing two street begging elephants and to start a demonstrative journey across Thailand. 

The Great Elephant Escape describes the liberation of two street elephants and their journey to the Elephant Nature Park. It is a breathtaking adventure through the world of flirtatious elephant traders, poor villagers, well-wishing monks, and angry animal-rights advocates.

By Antoinette van de Water & Liesbeth Sluiter, Silkworm books publisher

Paperback, 162 pages, publication date March 2009.