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Here are a few details about my “Piano for Elephants” project at Elephants World in Thailand. I moved to Thailand because I was invited to teach piano at a private school of a Thai concert pianist back in 1996. He was looking for British teachers and got my contact details from the British Embassy in Bangkok. At the time, I was living in England, specifically on the North Yorkshire Moors, a beautiful national park. I initially declined his offer as I preferred the countryside over life in a big city. However, after he called again weeks later, while I was snowed in, the prospect of sunshine and a new musical experience at his prestigious piano school appealed to me, and I accepted his invitation.
During my first few weeks in Bangkok teaching piano, I was invited to the Oriental Hotel. It was my first trip to the center of Bangkok. I visited a traditional tea house across the river, which turned out to be the hotel’s restaurant and gardens. I was shown around by a hostess. We talked about art, animals, and discovered shared interests. We became friends, started dating, and have now been married for 25 years, with a daughter named Emilie. We lived initially in England and France but returned to Thailand in 2006 to care for my wife’s aging parents. We designed and built our own home and studio and have been living in Bangkok ever since. We also have a cottage at Elephants World and spend part of each month there as volunteers, working with elephants.
My journey to Elephants World began almost 10 years ago. I came across an advertisement for the sanctuary while researching online about the history of the River Kwai Bridge in Kanchanaburi. Elephants World was described as a home for old, injured, handicapped, former logging, and street elephants on the banks of the river, offering peace and tranquility in the mountains, as nature intended. Intrigued, I wanted to do something unusual for my 50th birthday. I expressed a desire to play piano for the elephants at Elephants World. As a surprise, my wife Khwan contacted the owner, who allowed me to bring a piano and play for the elephants, not knowing how they would react.
Transporting our piano from Bangkok to the wilderness of the mountains in Kanchanaburi was challenging, but we were determined. We designed and made a travel piano, especially for this occasion. The night before my 50th birthday, I contemplated what it would be like to play for the elephants. Would they listen, or would it be dangerous? I decided if I could play only one piece for an elephant, it should be the second slow movement of Beethoven’s “Pathétique” Sonata. I made a shortened arrangement focusing on its well-known melody.
On my birthday, we set off for Elephants World with a taxi driver, our piano, and our dog. It was a tight squeeze. When we arrived, we assembled the piano in an open field and made it stable on uneven ground. The mahouts brought eight elephants to the piano. I was surrounded by these huge creatures eating barn grass. A blind elephant named Plara stopped eating and listened intently to the music. This reaction led to the start of our “Piano for Elephants” project.
Plara, the blind elephant, had the most visible reaction to music. He was ill and eventually died from an infection in the holes where his tusks had been cruelly removed. When I played music to him, he would hold the tip of his trunk in his mouth, trembling. This was a unique reaction, observed only when he listened to music.
We made many new friends at Elephants World. The manager introduced me to Dr. Samat, the owner, and we quickly became friends. They needed help with videos about elephants and a new website, which I provided. My wife, Khwan, a wildlife artist, made sculptures of all the elephants. We divided our time between Bangkok and Elephants World, staying for weeks at a time.
Over the years, I experimented with different piano designs, some with wheels, others on a trolley. My back suffered from moving the pianos across hilly terrain. I received sponsorship from a foreign piano company in Vienna, which provided acoustic pianos for both my home in Bangkok and Elephants World. These pianos were too heavy to move alone, so we worked as a team with a pickup truck, taking the pianos to the wild places the elephants preferred.
I discovered that baby and young elephants prefer fast music like ragtime or show songs, while older elephants enjoy slow, calm, classical music. There’s less reaction to music played on an electric piano compared to acoustic uprights and grand pianos, which produce natural vibrations. Elephants are sensitive to these vibrations.
I also became close with a bull elephant named Chai Chena, a former logging elephant. Initially deemed too dangerous, I played for him with caution. He was free around the piano, unchained and uncontrolled. Chai Chena listened gently and let me live, showing a softer side of his character. Over time, I fed him, spent time with him in the river, and hoped he would accept me. His first mahout left due to fear, but his current mahout, Yellow, bonded well with him.
In Thailand, all domesticated male elephants undergo the controversial “Crush” or “Phajaan” training. Music, a universal language, might help rehabilitate or rekindle their spirits. Chai Chena’s favorite piece is the second movement of Beethoven’s “Pathétique” Sonata. My favorite memories are of the first time I played for him, when I was told he might crush me, but instead, he listened and let me live, and of our silent times together in the river.
I feel privileged to live with elephants and enjoy getting to know them as individuals. Over the past 10 years, I’ve felt drawn to the dangerous bull elephants, as well as the old, blind, and disabled ones. It seems worthwhile to play piano music for elephants, especially if it brings comfort to those who have had stressful lives or live in darkness. Thanks for listening.