IN JUNGLE LOOKING FOR ELEPHANT - NAT SOUND POPS AS HE’S CALLING THE ELEPHANT, SMOKING CIGAR, SHOOTING SLINGSHOT at ELEPHANT MAHOUT 00:09:05-00:09:09 I told my father that I wanted to be mahout. But he was worried that an elephant would kill me. 00:09:10-00:09:16 I said they won’t because a mahout is like a prince. At least, at first I thought a mahout is like a prince. TITLE -> MOVING ELEPHANT THROUGH JUNGLE SHOTS 00:00:22-00:00:27 Since they didn’t want me to become a mahout, I ran away from my home. This is Ko Sai and his elephant Shan Lay. Ko Sai has been working as a mahout for roughly 1/3rd of his life. Since he ran away from home at age 14 he’s been taking care of logging elephants. 00:02:45:-00:02:55 The job of the mahout is to take care of an elephant, for instance, if there’s anything wrong with them. And because some elephants might attack people if their chain is unlocked and then they become hard to handle. 00:13:00-00:13:08 We do logging for companies. We used to get 1000 - 1500 tons of wood per year. 00:13:09-00:13:18 But now its only like 100-200 tons, so we mostly just rest. MEN CUTTING TREE -> ELEPHANT PULLING TREE OUT OF JUNGLE At its peak, 3/4ths of all the teak in the world came from Myanmar’s jungles — and most of that was extracted by an army of 10,000-pound elephants. The timber served as a major source of funding for the military junta that ruled this country as well as for the independent armies engaged in civil war here for decades. But after generations of heavy logging, Myanmar’s forests have become dangerously thin. And the newly democratic government has responded by passing a law that prohibits the export of raw timber. And this has put many elephants out of the job. MAHOUT BOSS 00:13:09 to 00:13:12 There used to be lots of forest here and we would bring lots of logs out when we had orders. Ko Sai works for U Chit Sein, a second generation elephant logger. 00:19:49 to 00:19:52 At first, I had more than 10 elephants. Now I gave some of them to my sons and daughters. 00:20:06 to 00:20:11 My costs were over 100 lakhs per year. 00:20:12 to 00:20:15 And that was only to pay for the mahout. It doesn’t include their food expense. Without work, U Chit Sein’s elephants don’t have much to do and the costs of keeping the mahouts employed has become a financially unstustainable. But U Chit Sein says he’s not worried. 00:35:48 to 00:35:57 I do not worry. If I run out of money, I will sell my cow and buffalo and use that money to take care of elephants. And if I have nothing left to sell I will set them free. 00:36:04 to 00:36:07 Why you need to worry?! Life is too short to worry. ELEPHANTS STANDING AROUND Setting an elephant free might be an easy solution for U Chit Sein, but it could be a big problem for the country of Myanmar. Because the new law has put over 2,500 elephants out of the job. If set free, these elephants can trample villages, ruin crops and easily fall into the hands of poachers. Some have begun to appear in Asia’s frequently grim tourist trade. Elephants in the tourist trade get broken into submission when they are babies. The training involved includes chaining them up for long periods of time, being hit with sharp metal objects and desensitizing them with loud noises and fire. Mothers are killed in the process to make the babies confirm. Ironically, a working elephant might be safer than one set free. And although he loves his elephant, this in turn could be the end of Ko Sai’s career and the end of an ancient tradition for the mahouts. 00:22:25-00:22:35 He can understand just like human beings. He is very clever and I love him. He is also very hard working. 00:15:56-00:16:00 But yes, if the logging business gets worse, the elephant owner won’t be able to pay anymore. 00:16:01-00:16:11 Now they pay me 10 lakh, but I could have asked for 12- 13 lakhs when the logging business was better before. 00:16:11-00:16:16 But now he can’t pay me that much because his elephants are unemployed and there is no income for him. FIN → UNUSED QUOTES I LIKE → 00:05:11 to 00:05:20 My father gave these elephants to me. I worked with these elephants. And if there’s no work, I won’t be able to pay for the mahouts. 00:03:54 to 00:04:00 If you don’t do logging with elephants, they will have no job. It’s the only thing they can do. 00:04:01 to 00:04:05 And then I can pay for the mahouts. 00:05:35:-00:05:40 He always listens to me and his name is Shan lay. When I say come Shan lay, he come to me. 00:00:51-00:01:01 First thing I learned was the elephant language. Then finally I dared to ride the elephants. 00:01:43-00:01:49 No one taught me to become a mahout. I had to learn by observing. 00:05:41:-00:05:59 When I want to ride on him, he lay down to let me ride on him and when I say don’t let me fall off, I’m here to take care of you and when I do something wrong, please forgive me and please be faithful each other. SON 00:05:50-00:05:58 If we can’t afford to hire the mahout, we will have to set the elephants free. 00:10:31-00:10:36 My father’s elephants are from my grandfather. 00:10:37-00:10:44 After my grandfather is my father, so you can say the business started from my grandfather’s era. 00:10:45-00:10:57 After my father, it’s me but I don’t know what will happen in my era. 00:10:58-00:10:59 Yes, 3 generations. 00:13:19-00:13:31 As I said before, this is scientific age and my younger generation won’t taking care the elephants like us. 00:13:32-00:13:43 Right?! They will happy with motorbike and cars and they won’t be happy to stay in the jungle. 00:13:44-00:13:50 They won’t make a sacrifice like us, so I am worry about that elephants might disappear.