Why is the elephant the national treasure of Thailand?

Thailand is a major elephant-producing country, and has always been known as the "Land of Elephants". In the dense forests of Thailand, there are often herds of elephants. Thai people and elephants have a close relationship and get along harmoniously. Elephants are respected and cared for by the people, and elephants also give people many kinds of help, especially in heavy labor. In Thailand, white elephants are regarded as national treasures that symbolize the prosperity of the country. The Thai government states that white elephants are the property of the royal family and anyone who finds one must offer it to the royal family (for which they will be paid). White elephants lived in the royal palace and were treated as sacred animals. The importance of the white elephant can be seen from the fact that in the 15th century AD, Siam and Myanmar fought a war over two white elephants. There is a legend in Thai folklore that if a person passes under the belly of an elephant, he will be lucky; if a pregnant woman passes under the belly of an elephant, she will have a smooth labor. As a result, some people specialize in bringing their elephants to the streets for people to cross the elephant's belly in order to earn income. In Thailand's Surin Province, the Elephant Festival is a traditional religious festival held in late November every year. The festival begins with a parade of war elephants. People put cover cloths, colorful ribbons and small bells on the most beautiful and powerful elephants, and then the elephants, dressed up, march proudly on the venue. Finally, there are the performances. There is the "Running Elephant Picking Up": some small objects, such as bananas, bottles, matchboxes, etc., are placed every 10 meters on the runway, and a small flag is placed at the farthest point. Participating elephants stand well at the starting point, and at a command, they all run forward and check the small objects back to the starting point one by one with their long trunks, and the winner is the one who picks up the small flag first at the end; "Elephant Steps Across": the volunteers lie down on the grass in rows, leaving a certain distance in the middle, the elephants have to cross over from one by one, and the lying people are Elephant Soccer Match": after the opening, the elephants, under the direction of the elephant trainer, use their feet and trunks to intercept and pass the ball, which is flexible and interesting, and often causes the audience to applaud and laugh; "Human-Elephant Tug-of-War": one of the largest elephants can play tug-of-war with up to 100 people, and the elephants can play tug-of-war with up to 100 people. The "Human-Elephant Tug-of-War": one of the biggest elephants can play tug-of-war with as many as a hundred people. Another program is the Ancient Elephant Formation. In the village of Bangla, about 54 kilometers north of Lampang, in northern Thailand, there is a school for elephant taming that is unique in the world. The "students" start at a young age, with young elephants aged 4-5 years old enrolling for training and "graduating" at around 10 years old to begin a lifetime of hard labor. 16-42 years old is the age group with the most The age group of 16-42 is the most powerful period of working ability, and some elephants can live up to 100 years old when they "retire" at the age of 60. From the very beginning, elephant school "students" are accompanied by two lifelong tamers: a neck tamer and a foot tamer. The first stage of the learning process is for the young elephants to get to know their handlers and to familiarize themselves with the various calls and commands they issue. They are first trained to walk (follow the trail), stop, lift the front legs, kneel on the front legs, stand up, put all four feet flat, lie down, and are taught to help the neck handler to get up and down. After a period of training and living together, the "students" familiarized themselves with the voice of the elephant handler, the commanding movements and their body odor, so that if a stranger went to lead them, they would roar loudly and refused to go with the stranger. Then came the "picking up objects lesson" and the "direction lesson". The former is to train the "students" to pick up things with their trunks, and the latter is to train them to find different directions and turn around according to the command of the elephant trainer on their necks. The main lesson is labor skills training, which includes hauling and carrying wood. The trainer begins by attaching one end of a steel chain to a leash on the elephant and the other end to a section of tree for them to drag. Next, the elephants are trained to carry and yard wood with their trunks and tusks. At the same time, they were trained to duck on their feet in case the section rolled off the pile and was injured. The last session is the most relaxing, as the "students" don't work, but only listen to "music", which consists of the elephant handler banging on objects, plucking strings, and stimulating their sensitive ear drums with a variety of sounds. They are also familiarized with the sounds of cars and forest vehicles, so that the elephants, who are used to living in the silence of the mountains and forests, will not be frightened when they hear various sounds. The source of "trainees" is either the baby elephants from domesticated elephants or the wild elephants captured. At the end of the dry season each year, the capture of wild elephants begins. This is also done with the help of elephant taming. Elephant husband riding tame elephants to wild elephants frequent places, walking slowly, wild elephants tame elephants as a leader, followed into the already set up gates, when the smart wild elephants find "fooled" to return to, it is too late, and as a result, was forced to the yard. The captured wild elephants are selected, and the unqualified ones are released back to the forest, and the qualified baby elephants are kept in captivity for a few years, so that they can be taught to work after removing their wildness and becoming docile. The birth rate of elephants is very low, the pregnancy period of female elephants is as long as 21-23 months, and only one elephant is born in each litter. Therefore, while exploiting the intelligence and labor of elephants, people must ensure the living space and environment for wild elephants and effectively protect them from poaching and other cruelty. The Thai government enacted the Wild Elephant Protection Act as early as 1921, and to date more and more people recognize the importance of this issue.