‘Have you ever had death threats?”, asks a voice behind from the camera. The question makes Thai conservationist Lek Chailert chuckle. “Many times. All the time!” Chailert is a tiny dynamo of a woman who has devoted her life to rescuing elephants exploited by the Thai tourist industry and illegal logging. With any luck, this documentary will find its way on to Netflix and reach a global audience, with the result that anyone planning to visit Thailand will cross an elephant ride off their bucket list.
We meet Chailert at her elephant sanctuary Elephant Nature Park, home to more than 100 rescues. Inevitably, Chailert has been called the elephant whisperer, and you can see why, watching her march along, a little line of elephants trooping behind. Chailert is funny and playful, a real character; in one scene she snuggles down with a snoozing elephant, its snoring sounds like the world’s loudest hairdryer. The elephants often arrive at the park malnourished, emaciated, overworked and stressed; “Like zombies,” she says.
