Tips for elephant-ridding
For some visitors, elephant-ridding is a new and exiting experience. To make your riding safe and more enjoyable, here are some tips.
1. Be obedient to the mahout?s direction.
2. Do not ride an elephant on your own.
3. Wear compact and comfortable dress, a pair of comfortable shoe, sunglasses, and a hat.
4. Normally, tourists often have trouble making thier balance on the elephant?s back, so, it is advisable not to be nervous. Relax and make yourself comfortable as you can with the rhythm of the elephant?s walking steps. And hole on to the safety rope or the string prepared on the back of the elephant.
5. Don?t make loud noises. The elephant gets frightened and mad.
6. For person with irrational persistent fear of heights, do not ride an elephant.
7. Get on or off the elephant, only at the place provided. And do follow the mahout?s direction.
8. Do not feed, tease or take photo of the elephant without a mahout?s control near by.
When in the forest
To preserve the environment-especially the forest, wildlife, and the beauty of nature-these are what good trekkers should do!
1. Do not throw anything which can easily get fire such as smoked ciragette. After cooking, make sure the fire has already been put off.
2. Do not cut, pick out or destory any leaf, flower, or tree.
3. Do not take anything, that belongs there, out of the forest.
4. Do not hunt for any wildlife.
5. Do not break limestones or draw anything on the wall of caves.
6. Do not litter.
7. Do not make loud noise in the forest.
Leave only your footprint in the forest, and bring only beautiful memory and photo.
When entering a religious place
A number of special sections in the Thai law concorns religious offenses. These cover not only Buddhism, the religion of the majority of the people, but also other faiths represented in the kingdom. To avoid gaffes, here are a few basic tips on ?what to do and not? when visiting religious place:
* Dress neatly. Don?t go shirtless, in shorts, hot pants or other unsuitable attire.
* It is all right to wear shoes while walking arould the compound of a buddhist temple, but not inside the chapel where the principal Buddha image is kept.
* Buddhist priests are forbidden to touch or be touched by women or to accept anything from thier hands. If a women has to give anything to a monk or novice, she hand it to a men, who then presents it. In case of a women who want to present it with her hand, the monk or novice spreads out a piece of saffron robe or handkerchief infront of him, and a women lays down the material on the robe.
* All Buddha images, large or small, ruined or not, are regarded as sacred objects. Hence, don?t climb up on one to take a photograp or do anything that might show lack of respect.
* In a Muslim mosque, men should wear hats and women should be well covered with slacks or a long skirt, a long-sleeved blouse buttoned to the neck, and a scarf over the hair. Shoes should be removed before entering a mosque.
