Elephants have been for centuries part of Thailand's workforce but deforestation and restrictions on logging mean that many are now unemployed and their population is declining (now 2000 in the wild, and 3000 domesticated). This volume with 250 new photographs explores in the first part of the book how the elephant has been used as an ambassador of tourism in Thailand by studying the different ways in which they are increasingly being fostered as part of tourists' experience. The second part of the book focuses on the elephant itself - its physical characteristics, its life cycle, its conservation and reintroduction, and its role in protecting the ecology of the forest. There is also an intriguing chapter on the traditional rituals that were practised by hunters before they ventured out to capture wild elephants. With glossary and index.