TOP SECRET: MEG RYAN HITS CHIANGMAI!

By David Hardy

Amidst a gang of burly American bodyguards, Hollywood star Meg Ryan hit Chiangmai oh-so-secretively last month to make a TV documentary about elephants. We penetrated the strict security to bring you these exclusive words and pictures.

Hollywood's favourite "girl-next-door" star, Meg Ryan, has loved elephants since she was a child - and last month got her first chance to see them in the jungle when she hosted a TV special on the subject, here in Chiangmai.

"Last night my beautiful new friends made music for me!" she exclaimed at dawn to Khun Sangduan Chailert of Elephant Nature Park, who spent 3 days with Meg here, explaining elephant care and conservation.

Meg, together with her 9 year old son Jack, had spent a night in the jungle with elephants and their mahouts - and the star made no complaints about the basic facilities and lack of a bathroom! Specially, she was exultant about the noises made by the elephants at night:

"They only sleep for around 4 hours a night, but they sometimes snore and grind their teeth just like we humans do" explained Lek. "They also communicate with each other by quiet exhaling of breath, which is very interesting to listen to." "It's wonderful to walk up a mountain, live in an open sided hut, listen to the insects in the trees and see how the elephants live" said Meg. "The people in Hollywood are very clever at making imitation scenery - but this is for real!" The local adventure began when Meg, son Jack and the TV crew, Tigress Productions from England, hosted dinner for Lek at the exclusive 5-star Regent Resort, Mae Rim.

"Meg and young Jack asked lots of questions and said they both loved elephants. The TV programme is all about elephant conservation and the people who care for them, and will be shown all round the world in the next few months, maybe as part of the Animal Planet series" recalled Lek.

"Meg was particularly interested in methods of elephant protection, how they and the mahouts live in the jungle and the herbal medicine we use if the elephants are ill. We make up 'pills', bigger than cricket balls, from 20 different ingredients including whisky, and I warned that an elephant can get a little drunk if they eat too many!"

Lots of new Thai friends for the very private Ryan!

Our undercover photographer poses with her most famous subject so far

Meg and Jack both rode on elephants during their Chiangmai experience, and Jack rushed around with a video camera, making his own film to show his friends back at school in California. Meg spent time learning Thai cooking from the mahouts - and was a witness to finally explode the myth that healthy elephants only sleep while standing up!

"Some sleep standing up, others use their feet and trunk to make a sort of bowl shape in the earth, and lie down to sleep" revealed Lek. "We only found this out for ourselves a short time ago, because only some elephants do it and then only when they are quite a distance away from people."

"The filming seemed to go very well. Meg was happy and relaxed the whole time and said that she would really love to come back here. I hope she does, though there are a few things which might have been done better around a star of her status in Thailand."

No bed of roses

Everyone realises that stars need their privacy, especially in this case when Meg Ryan brought her son along. But Lek and all the other Thais involved were shocked by the behaviour of the bodyguards, whose job seemed to be mainly to keep the press away.

"The Thai way is very tolerant and compromising, even our Prime Minister is not surrounded by heavy men pushing and shoving everywhere he goes. And we who work with animals live in a world which is very gentle and quiet. So it was very surprising when these men snatched photographers' cameras and ripped their films out!"

"There were about 10 journalists following the filming party around, about 5 international people and 5 Thai, certainly not a paparazzi mob" said Lek. "The crew were here to tell the life story of a beautiful animal which has done so much for the image of Thailand and for tourism, so I don't understand why the press were treated so badly."

"If Meg or another superstar comes here for this type of work, it would be far better to start with a press conference to explain what it's all about, answer questions, let everyone take photos, and then politely ask the press to let them get on with their work. This would avoid the difficulties - and also stop ordinary people turning against the important visitors, just as happened in the south when 'The Beach' was being filmed".

Which explains why these photos - and the facts behind a TV production which will certainly boost this region - are so rare! Our thanks to Lek and GEM Travel guide (and photographer) Khun Phatchareeporn Kiwattana.

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