Gawd. Have you any idea what they do to these poor animals? Even Robert Fisk, the excellent arabist, writes in his ginormous book "The Great War For Civilisation" that he has seen men climbing stairs to sodomize camels. Considering the camel's height, the arabs could probably be more comfortable with smaller animals like goats - or women.
I have seen a few of these poor pachyderms both in Bangkok and Chiang Mai. It's really a sad sight. On the other hand, the apparent sponsors of these murals (Elephant Nature Park) is a great place. Located a bit outside Chiang Mai it offers sancuary for overworked, hurt or orphaned elephants. We visited the park a while back and it was a wonderful experience. If you find yourself in or near CM, please visit their office and make a donation. Or go on a day-trip (or two-day and one night) to see the elephants in their natural habitat. We got to help scrub the elephants backs in the nearby river (they love to be scrubbed on their backs) and at the time there was even three lovely little elephant babies in the group. Visit their website here:
http://www.elephantnaturepark.org/
http://greygonemad.livejournal.com/46973.html