Yesterday, the 29-year-old elephant Muthu Raja, also known as Sak Surin, returned to its home country of Thailand, following two decades of diplomatic dispute over the animal's mistreatment. After being loaded onto an Ilyushin Il-76 cargo plane in a specially-made steel crate, Muthu Raja arrived in Chiang Mai in the early afternoon, and Thai environment minister Varawut Silpa-archa noted that the elephant made the five-hour journey without any problems. When the crate was opened, Muthu Raja was sprayed with water and eagerly reached its trunk through the hole in the crate to accept a drink from the minister. After this, the elephant was moved to a nearby nature reserve for quarantine. Before it left Sri Lanka, the elephant had been kept at a Buddhist temple, where it had reportedly been mistreated and neglected. When it was rescued last year, the elephant had abscesses and was in pain, according to Madusha Perera, the chief veterinarian at the zoo in the nation's capital Colombo. Animal welfare groups said the elephant had been forced to work with a logging crew and its wounds had been neglected.

The 4,000-kilogram elephant's journey was monitored by two CCTV cameras and was accompanied by four Thai handlers, a Sri Lankan keeper, and cost approximately US$700,000. After returning to Thailand, Muthu Raja will undergo hydrotherapy to treat an injury on its front left leg. The repatriation of Muthu Raja has been met with mixed reactions. Sri Lanka's wild life minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi said that Thailand was "adamant" in its demands for the elephant's return, while Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena personally conveyed Sri Lanka's regrets to the Thai king over the animal's condition. On the other hand, the organisation Rally for Animal Rights and Environment (RARE), who led the campaign to rescue Muthu Raja from the temple, expressed its unhappiness at the elephant's departure. Going forward, Thailand has stopped sending elephants abroad, and its diplomatic missions are now checking the conditions of elephants that have already been sent overseas.