‘If you have an elephant, you do not want to walk on the ground’: The Thai elephant as a nexus between culture and nature

The above Thai proverb is one of many reflections on the inseparable relationship between people and elephants in Thai life. It is an enduring relationship that reflects the close connection between the natural and cultural elements of a lived, experienced and imagined landscape, imbued with traditions and practices, beliefs and life ways, and social processes that serve to create identity, community and a sense of ‘being in place’.