a good friend in Pai

I made a good friend in Pai. His name is Tat Lao and he's an elephant. We spent two hours together, trekking through the trees, climbing a mountain, and frolicking in the river. I chose an elephant camp which was probably not the most ethically responsible but I took some time to justify it for myself. Tat's trainer, Joi, lives with the elephants at the camp. He spends the majority of his time working with and caring for the animals. As Joi was speaking, I had a hard time deciphering when he was speaking Thai, when he was speaking English, and when he was speaking elephant. I'm pretty convinced that Joi was part elephant himself. There's another camp which allows the elephants to roam in their natural environment but this camp in Pai satisfied more of my needs at the moment. Plus, the money that I spent went toward supporting the people who work in this tiny town. It allows them to make a living. However, the next time that I'm in Thailand, I'll definitely be going to The Elephant Nature Park. (And to justify even further, I've visited a vegetarian restaurant a few times which financially contributes to the Nature Park.)