How an Animal Sanctuary in the heart of Thailand became a home.
For a long time, I have meant to start this series. A collection of blogs written about stand out individuals who have found a way to exist and thrive both for themselves and for the greater good.
“A Good Job” was to be a way for me to chronicle those rare, inspirational people who have found, what one might call, their calling. A life matched perfectly to their needs and ethics, allowing them to flourish in ways many of us could only dream of. I expected my search to be long, I hoped to happen upon them as one does a flower in a cornfield. And yet on my very first attempt at writing such a piece I must break with the loose protocols set out for myself and write about a whole collection of people who have been able to do just this.
As you drive up to ‘Wildlife Friends of Thailand (WFFT)’ you are inevitably pulsing with excitement. As was the case with most people, I had come for the elephants. Creatures of such magnitude and reverence that they stand out in a world where we have so little connection with our fellow earth dwellers. Elephants make for a fabulous poster and work well to bring in those, like myself, yearning to connect with nature. But like so many others in this Pandemic Era, WFFT has been forced to adapt. I realised quite quickly that I was not here for the dream working retreat I had imagined.
My guide Fifa, casually gestures at the whiteboards covering the walls where details for the day's activities and chores would be written up for the 80 ish volunteers they were used to supporting. An announcement board with a simple note of avoiding large populations and details for what to do if you show Covid symptoms is left forgotten, written over a year ago, for groups that are no longer here.
We are left with a core crew of staff and long time volunteers resigned to, and thriving in, an environment they would never have been able to imagine before this nightmare began. Jobs usually done by a group of six are carried out, without complaint, by teams of one or two people dedicated to the care they have promised to every single animal that is both lucky and unlucky enough to pass through their gates.
Sprawling across a dizzying amount of land the WFFT plays host to over 700 animals. Including (but certainly not limited to) macaques, gibbons, turtles, orangutans, muntjacs, iguanas, boars, bears, a mountain lion named Jam and two three-legged cows rescued from the local village. They even have a small collection of bunny rabbits, proving that their hospitality extends to all creatures, great and small.
Each day starts the same, 6:30 am in the Food Hut. With a mixed soundtrack of English and Thai music, an equally eclectic collection of individuals prep meals for every animal on site. Bundles of bananas, mangos, dragon fruits, pineapples and the occasional frozen cockroach gets divided up and portioned out for the day ahead. Despite the sweat, the distressingly early hour, the occasional hangover and a monumental amount of flies, every person here seems to be in their element. Getting on with the job like they were born to it. Once complete, and before anyone here has either eaten their breakfast or drunk their morning coffee, the feeding begins. This is where you see the true magic of this haven for all. Each of the 700 (named) animals has their own personality, and everyone who works here knows it.
My first job is to feed the foundations community of Dusky Langurs. Fifa begins by pointing out the trouble makers (a small male Langur named Pond stands out) and then proceeds to list off each monkey by heart. Towering enclosures interconnected with tunnels that run overhead house seven smaller troupes, grouped by personality, family and circumstance. A new Mamma and Baby are stepped off to the side to give them some privacy for baby to grow, Tuck and Chis have an enclosure to themselves and Pond has plenty of space to pounce in out of nowhere and send the water bowl in your hands flying. Unable to release many of these animals, due to lack of habitat space, national bureaucracy and the usual difficulties associated with rehabilitating such complex social animals after a life in captivity, WFFT has done the next best thing. They have given these animals a life worth living. A life where their every need is catered for and they can be left to live in peace.
Whilst they rehabilitate and release at every possible opportunity, for many of the animals housed here that is simply not an option. And whilst this is still a business that needs to pay its bills and its many staff to survive, it’s impossible to miss that nothing but the animals best interests are catered for. Upon my request, volunteer coordinator Katie gives me a tour of some of the larger field enclosures. After ten minutes of driving she stops and points up to a post in the middle of a large forest field. Perched on top, enjoying the late afternoon sun, is a stunning female Orangutan. The sight takes my breath away, with her arms stretched out in front of her and her face turned up to the sky I’m left speechless. But just like that Katie begins to drive off. I ask if we can go back, I wanted to sit and watch her for as long as possible. “They’ve had a lifetime of people looking in on them, now we just want to give them their own space.”
I can’t help but smile. This is not a zoo or a tourist trap. It is a home. For both the animals and the humans who have found solace in the middle of this Jungle. As I fall asleep, tired and aching. Surrounded by a defining lack of silence, the families of Gibbons relocated to the islands in the lake outside my room call back and forth to each other, crickets and geckos make sure I never forget where I am. And yet I feel nothing but peace. The work is hard, the hours are long and the climate is unforgiving. But the life is worth it, and the payoff is huge.
It is, quite simply, A Good job.
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For details on how to volunteer, donate or visit the foundation yourself please go to their website here.
