PACHADERM driver Kroeuk is the proud owner of a 50-year-old elephant called Koy.
He says: "Koy sometimes turns wild with strangers, but he listens to me,
he is a good elephant."
The 25-year-old father of three says he learnt to
ride the elephant which was inherited by his parents when he was 15.
The
family are members of the Phnong ethnic minority, Mondolkiri province.
"I'm happy to be a Mahout, but the problem is the seat of my trousers is
easily torn out."
Kroeuk turns around and shows me patches on the seat
of his trousers. He then enthusiastically begins to tell me the story of his
elephant.
"One day Koy fell in love and did not want to eat anything. He
only slept and played with his girlfriend. He could not work when he did not
eat"
Kroeuk adds in an annoyed tone: "We had to arrange a wedding
ceremony for him and then get people to pray for jungle spirits to come and wake
up his mind. Looking after an elephant is more difficult than looking after a
human being."
But Kroeuk says he is very fortunate to have the elephant
as he helps earn his family a living.
He said: "I can make 40,000 riel a
day by using Koy to carry goods."
The main occupation of hill-tribesmen
such as the Phnong is rice farming based on slash-and-burn agriculture.
Villages are moved from one place to another every four or five years
when the soil is considered less productive for the crop.
Raising
livestock and hunting are only subsidiary activities.
Kroeuk says:
"After the rice season we do nothing. Without Koy life would be more difficult,
we would probably just sleep and eat rice until the next season
comes."
Governor Ho Sok says poor health is one of the many problems
facing Mondolkiri residents.
He said that out of 900 people who underwent
blood tests more than 800 were found to have contracted malaria.
