His Majesty the King has agreed to take ailing Thai elephant Sak Surin, recently repatriated from Sri Lanka, under his patronage, Natural Resources and Environment Minister Varawut Silpa-archa said today (Tuesday).
He also said that he has been informed by the Ministry of foreign Affairs that most of the Thai elephants which were sent to abroad as “goodwill ambassadors” are doing well, as their host countries are perfectly capable of taking good care of them.
Sak Surin is, currently, in quarantine at the elephant conservation centre in Hang Chat district of Lampang province. He was flown back from Sri Lanka on July 2nd after about 22 years in that country.
Minister Varawut said Sak Surin is suffering from a cataract in the right eye, its front left leg cannot bend, he has infected wounds on his hips and has problems with his nails and the soles of all four feet.
He said, however, that the elephant will be fully checked after the 30-day quarantine period, adding that he will be treated until he has fully recovered from all the ailments.
The elephant is, nonetheless, in good spirits because he is living in good environment and has a lot of time for rest, said Varawut, adding that it may take quite some time before he fully recovers.
More than 10,000 people logged into the Facebook page of the elephant conservation centre to watch the Facebook livestreaming of Sak Surin at about 4pm yesterday.
