When Thanee arrived, she was quite thin, had an expanded abdominal area, and her health was suffering due to having previously been placed on an inadequate diet.

Thanee arrived at the elephant hospital of Friends of the Asian Elephant Foundation in February of 1995. The Foundation purchased Thanee at a price of 150,000 baht from a logger; the funds were collected from donations. The former owner had provided notification that Thanee was 20 months pregnant at the time. (Elephants are pregnant between 19 and 22 months.) The owner wanted to sell Thanee in order to use the money to purchase another elephant to use for work. A heavily pregnant elephant such as Thanee would not have been able to work to full capacity.

FAE expressed concerns that the baby would get separated from the mother before the appropriate age and time. FAE had to broadcast the news to the public to request for help. The “Kantana” team came forward to offer support in mass media communications.

Thanee then received sponsorship of an amount of 100,000 baht from Her Majesty Queen Sirikit’s private funds.

We took very good care of Thanee. The quality of her skin improved, and her skin became beautiful. The state of her pregnancy became more distinct. But as time passed, thorough examination revealed that Thanee had a condition called ‘pseudopregnancy’, which can occur in animals in general.

Throughout Thanee’s 14 years as a permanent resident of FAE Elephant Hospital, her overall health was of a positive standard. Thanee had a well-rounded, abundantly fleshed out figure, even though she remained anemic and her body was pale and yellow.

During the last three years (starting from 2006), Thanee frequently suffered from bloat when the weather turned cool, aside from the fact that she was also getting old.

8 December 2009: When Thanee finally passed away, her decline was also due to a hard life during her time as a logging elephant. She was 50 years old.