Missing wild elephants: Another perspective on the history of change in Thung Luang/ Thung Rangsit during 2430s - 2450s B.E.

Abstract

The historical studies for “Thung Luang” or “Thung Rangsit” in the past mostly focused on macro changes, the story of the object in the study of minor issues as “Chang Theun” or wild elephants have not been explicitly mentioned. Wild elephants in Thung Luang have only related to elephant capture since ancient times until the reign of King Chulalongkorn, Rama V. However, the result of the Rangsit Canal Project in the 1890s to reclaim the rice cultivation area caused to some wildlife in Thung Luang were hunted that effectuates to the extinction. This was an exception for wild elephants because the Government of Siam had a law prohibiting elephant hunting since the past. There are several methods to solve the problem of wild elephants in Thung Luang, one of which is to herd elephants (Pok Khlong) from the cultivation area around the Rangsit Canal to other places. The disappearance of wild elephants in Thung Luang or Thung Rangsit is therefore mainly a result of government policy and the desire of the private canalized companies that owned the land in Thung Rangsit.