The first class of people to complete a professional mahout program graduated in Chang Phueak Monday, July 8.
The mahout training school, announced in August, is a joint program from the Maetang Elephant Camp and Chiang Mai Rajabhat University designed to provide professional mahout training
The program includes hands-on experience in a working environment as well as specialist lessons within a well-structured course.
The basic course takes 85 hours and includes basic mahout knowledge (6 hours), professional personality and attitude for service work (3 hours) psychology for mahout career (3 hours) English communication(20 hours), Chinese communication (20 hours), Introduction to the topic of elephants (3 hours), elephant riding and elephant control (9 hours), culture and traditions Elephant farming (3 hours) and a general mahout training course (9 hours).
The course is said to be focused on developing the potential of mahouts so as to provide better standards in the elephant industry.
Mahouts are actually in fairly high demand with wages starting from 15,000 baht a month for new mahouts, significantly higher than the minimum wage in Chiang Mai.
