Pandaphantitis

Sometimes it takes a panda to save an elephant. Or a mania to point the finger at real issues. So? Just dress up an elephant as a panda and people are actually watching. Watching the plight of the ignored pachyderm. The symbolic animal of Thailand.

See how you’re loved when you’re a panda for one day. Beautiful example of Thai ingenuity and wit. Wouldn’t be surprised if we soon get the Panda Party PP. It’s as clever as telling though to masquerade a problem as a panda:

You most certainly catch the attention of the gone-panda Thai population. Isn’t it amazing how easily you can stir up a mass movement around here. And see? Elephants are mocking the people.

Comments the Bangkok Post:

Thai elephants just have to grin and bear it

AYUTTHAYA: Just how much can an elephant bear?

A staff member at the Ayutthaya Elephant Kraal paints an elephant black and white to make gentle fun of the national craze for pandas, which the kraal says has left elephants’ needs overlooked.

The Ayutthaya Elephant Kraal has painted Plai Panlan, a 5-year-old male elephant, in the panda colors of black and white to remind the public that elephants have needs, too.

The watercolor is harmless, and the elephant did not seem to mind. Kraal staff are gently mocking the national craze over the female panda cub born to Lin Hui and Xuang Xuang at Chiang Mai zoo.

Kraal manager Itthipan Kaolamai said staff were striking a blow for Thai elephant causes. Many of the beasts were still in need of state help, but in all the fuss over pandas were getting overlooked.

The government was showering money on the Chinese pandas, while ignoring its own national symbol, the elephant.

A case in point? The 20 million baht snow house being built for the panda family at the zoo.

If elephants could paint themselves black and white like pandas, then maybe they would get some of that attention.

Images above via Daylife/Reuters: “Schoolchildren watch an elephant painted as a panda perform in a school in Ayutthaya province, 80 km (50 miles) north of Bangkok June 26, 2009. Five such elephants were led on a walkabout to send a message to the Thai public not to ignore its elephants, the symbolic animal of Thailand. A female panda and its newborn baby in Chiang Mai zoo have captured the attention of the public.”

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