“I’m naughty. My name is Kwan Samui which means ‘good luck Samui’. I was born in 2011, so I am eight. My mummy is called Aom, and she lives in Samui Elephant Haven as well, but she lives in the hilly bit with Perm Poon, my little brother. He’s really lucky because he is still with our mummy. I was taken from her when I was the same age as Perm Poon, so you can see how little I was. I am very happy for him though. He’s a nice little brother. When they come to the pools I watch him play in the water.

I was too little to leave my mummy and was made to stand still for many hours at a time, in the rain and the sunshine. I quite liked the rain; it was refreshing for my skin. As you probably know, elephants have sensitive skin, and we need to use mud as sunscreen. Because I had to stand still all day, I had nothing to take my mind from the thoughts of my mummy, and my heart was sad because I missed her so much. I used to get so distressed; I would sway my head from side to side. I still do this now, but not as much.

One day Maew came to rescue me. I liked him and trusted him straight away. He didn’t have a nasty bullhook, just lots of bananas. We got to the Haven when the stars were shining, and my new mahout put me in a beautiful sleeping enclosure for the night. I was scared, of course, everything smelled different, and the other elephants were trumpeting at me, and my mahout stayed close.

The next morning, Maew came to see me, and he introduced me to the herd. All of them were touching me with their trunks and reassuring me; it was quite tickly though. I remember there was a loud noise, and I tried to run away, but they calmed me down quickly. That afternoon I went for my very first swim. It was lovely and cool. Nong Pech, Moloair and I are always together, and I love them very much. Maew laughs at us all, so we give him kisses on his head”.