Welcome to the Jungle!

I find myself in Thong Pha Phum, a rural village in the Thai western jungles bordering Myanmar. I am at the Foundation of Western Forest Complex Conservation (FWFCC) Headquarters with my host, Surin.

The FWFCC HQ perches on a beautiful slice of mountain property. The open-air buildings appear to meld with the land. Hanging over a small river, lush greenery envelopes wooden beams and layers of aged concrete. Over a traditional bottle of Lao Khao (head-spinning Thai rice whiskey), Surin introduced me to the team: his nature photographer assistant, Deer, and a team of rangers. Only Surin speaks fluent English. I can speak to the rangers, but they only understand "hello" and "goodbye." Deer is learning English, and we can fumble through a conversation very slowly with profuse body language. When push comes to shove, we can get by with shoddy wifi and Google Translate on his iPad.

Over a bowl of seasoned glass noodles, Surin briefs me on the Huay Khayeng Wild Elephant Census Project. This project is the Foundation's current focus. A herd of nearly 200 elephants recently migrated back into Thong Pha Phum in late 2015. Previously they lived on the opposite side of the national park's mountain range. They've suddenly come home after years of absence, and the farmer's crops are mysteriously disappearing in the dead of night. The elephants are well fed, and the farmers are not happy.

Managing human-elephant relations has become a significant issue in the region, even earning an official title (Human Elephant Conflict) and acronym (HECx.)

Elephants are treated with the utmost respect in Thailand. An elephant death would mark the end of a ranger's career, if he is on watch during the incident. Not promising when a few angry farmers set rogue fires to deter grazing. Poachers don't help either. Did I mention inbreeding, predators and forest fragmentation?! In order to begin tackling HECx, FWFCC must track down and identify each elephant before adding them to an extensive database. Hence, the Wild Elephant Census Project.

We are leaving the comfortably rustic FWFCC Headquarters tomorrow. I will be working with the team for the next three days from inside Thong Pha Phum National Park. At the ranger station we will sleep in dusty hammocks, eat spicy fish curry, consume copious amounts of lao khao by night and ride motorcycles in search of unidentified wild elephants by day.

Boy, am I in for a ride.