Friends of the Asian Elephant (FAE) Hospital is located in Lampang near Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand.


In 1993, Soraida Salwala opened the world’s first Asian Elephant Hospital to treat elephants that are ill or injured as a result of work, abuse or neglect. Elephants have always had a special place in Soraida’s heart after she found her calling at eight-years old. She saw an elephant put to sleep after being hit by a truck because there was no place to take him. This experience stuck with her and she has made it her life’s mission to save every elephant in Thailand. To date, she and her staff have treated over 3,200 elephants for everything from eye infections to knife wounds, gunshot wounds, broken bones and landmine accidents.

  1. ❖After logging was made illegal, most elephants became unemployed and turned to tourism or were forced to engage in illegal logging near or over the border in Burma

  2. ❖In some remote areas of Southeast Asia it is still more economical to use elephants for logging than it is to use modern machinery

  3. ❖Elephants are dosed with amphetamines and forced to work long hours throughout the night at this dangerous job so they escape detection


Some elephants have been crippled or died falling from cliffs, while others suffered broken backs, broken legs, blindness, deep festering wounds or feet blown off as a result of stepping on landmines which are remnants of war

For further details please visit http://www.elephant-soraida.com/index.php/en/



  1. ❖“The Eyes of Thailand” produced this moving film telling the true story of two elephant landmine survivors Motala and Baby Mosha at FAE hospital. Treating their wounds was only part of the journey, building elephant-sized prostheses was another. Directed and Produced by Windy Borman

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baan chang

fae hospital

surin project

illegal logging

landmines


  1. ❖Landmine Monitor - Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor is an initiative providing research for the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) and the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC)