Three veterinarians, a mahout, two assistants and a specially-built cage will be flown to Sri Lanka on a chartered flight on July 1^st to bring “Saksurin”, an ailing and aging Thai elephant, back home after about 21 years abroad.

According to Sittidet Mahasawangkul, a veterinary expert with Thailand’s Forest Industry Organisation, the mahout, Thongsuk Mali-ngam, will be flown to Sri Lanka to train the elephant on how to enter and exit the cage and to become familiar with it so it will not panic when it on a plane being flown back home. The flight will take about six hours.

The cage is strong and is enclosed on all sides. The elephant will stand throughout the flight and no sedative will be administered, to avoid any side effects, said Sittidet.

Thongsuk will be with the elephant throughout the journey to keep it calm and to provide food and water, he said, adding that this mission is quite challenging, but due to Thongsuk spending about six months with the elephant in Sri Lanka, he is confident that the journey will go smoothly.

Upon arrival at Chiang Mai airport, Saksurin will be trucked to the elephant hospital in Lampang, which has a spacious area in which the elephant can roam in a natural environment, unlike the limited space it has had for the past 21 years in Sri Lanka, said the vet.

He believes that Saksurin will enjoy a happy old age in Lampang.

Prasert Sornsathapornkul, chief of the Wildlife and Plants Conservation Division, said that the total cost of repatriating Saksurin is estimated to be about 24.7 million baht and a special budget has been sought from the Budget Bureau and its Central Fund.