Pang Hong - The Elephant Artist - Self Portraits, Thailand - 6/21/08

My name is Noi Rakchang.  I was born in 1978.  I am a mahout of a female elephant named "Pang Hong".  Born in 2001, she is childish and curious and likes to tease mahouts.  For example, when she knows that she's got to show off her painting skills at the show, she does not paint or paint it differently from what is expected to tease a mahout. 

She is also playful.  Once, when we brought elephants to an outside show, all elephants were loaded on the truck.  She used her trunk to survey the truck and opened the truck door.  When she got out of the truck, she did not get too far from the truck and used her trunk to survey the truck's wheel and hood.  When I did not get close to her, she rubbed her body with the truck.  She has a phobia with strange noise which she can't identify the source of.  Her favorite food is grass.

She is keen on creating realistic painting.  She usually paints an elephant holding flowers with her trunk and the Thai flag.  She started learning how to paint with me in 2005.  I started teaching her to draw flower stems and taught her to add leaves and flowers to stems later on.  It took 4 - 5 months for her to fluently paint the flowers.  I would like my elephant to paint Thai flag beautifully because many visitors and tour guides love it.  Some guides told me to train her to draw the flag more beautifully.  I will try my best training her to be more skilled.