Dear Deputy Director Generals Prayoonwet, Prayurasiddhi, and Huamuangkaew:

The illegal elephant trade is surging on in Southeast Asia. The elephant populations in Burma and Thailand are suffering due to extreme poaching. Wealthy traders take the elephants and use them for their ivory or in the tourism industry in elephant trekking.

The elephants that are captured are held in captivity and are subject to nothing short of torture, whether their tusks are cut from their faces or they are forcefully and painfully trained to obey their masters.

Right now, elephants aren't required to be registered until they reach eight years of age. But if all elephants were registered at birth, keeping them in the wild with their parents might prove a much easier task.

Please do all you can to make sure domesticated elephants are registered at birth, distinguishing them from their wild counterparts, so that these precious animals can thrive in their homes and avoid the dangerous black market.

Thank you for your time.