Myanmar's white elephants are not j

Myanmar's white elephants are not just a tourist attraction

The Royal White Elephant Garden, hidden away in a suburb of northern Yangon, is no common tourist attraction.

Hsin Ppyu Daw Park, off a busy road in Yangon’s Insein district, is the pastoral home of three white elephants kept separate from ordinary "black elephants" more easily visited at Yangon Zoo.

The pinkish pachyderms enjoy a bath at 7am and a short perambulation before putting in nine hours a day chained to a stake in a pavilion on public display for tourists. Admission is free.

"Besides people from Myanmar, most of the tourists who come here are from Thailand," says Khin Maung Win, the park's chief veterinarian. "Europeans are not so interested."

For centuries the appearance and capture of a white elephant was deemed auspicious for the rulers of the kingdoms of Southeast Asia and South Asia.

The creature's rare appearance held religious significance for Hindu or Buddhist kingships.

"White elephants were thought to be one of the attributes of a Chakravartin (a universal ruler)," says Toe Hla, vice-chairman of the Myanmar Historical Commission. "We believe that with the appearance of a white elephant comes peace, stability and prosperity."

In fact, instead of heralding peace, white elephant envy has prompted several wars between kingdoms, including the Myanmar destruction of Thailand's ancient kingdom of Ayutthaya in 1767.

Myanmar King Bayint Naung initiated the war when he asked the king of Ayutthaya for two of his white elephants. "When the king refused the request, Bayint Naung invaded," Toe Hla says.

Given this Myanmar-Thai history, observers were somewhat shocked when Thai Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichaikahaikul asked his Myanmar counterpart for the loan of a white elephant to be put on display at Chiang Mai Zoo in northern Thailand to commemorate the 65th year of the two countries' diplomatic ties next year.

Last month, the Myanmar government politely turned down the request, while offering to arrange flights for the people of Chiang Mai (Surapong's hometown) to come to Yangon or Nay Pyi Taw to see the country's white elephants on their home turf.

"Maybe this will lead to the revival of the elephant wars," says Toe Hla of Thailand's diplomatic disappointment with a smile.

Myanmar’s former junta (1988 to 2010) and the current pro-military government are known to take their white elephants seriously.