Sixty-year-old Karen mahout Khun Poowad walks his sixty-year-old female elephant Tong Dee to the river for her afternoon bath in the village of Huay Pakoot, northern Thailand. Karen mahouts live with their elephants for their entire life and move with them wherever their employment leads them. The Karen traditionally use elephants for trekking and logging and they are revered and highly valued members of the family. The sudden collapse of the tourist industry in Thailand due to the COVID-19 pandemic pandemic restrictions has resulted in thousands of elephants and their owners (mahouts) being suddenly made redundant and subsequently forced to return to their home villages to rethink their future.