Phachi is an orphan, her mother was shot and killed by suspected poachers at her home in Ratchaburi Province. She now lives in Thailand's Lampang Elephant Conservation Centre, about 700km north of Bangkok.
The roughly five-year-old pachyderm was taken there in mid-January after her mother's death and treated for minor wounds. Doctors say she is healing fast.
"Right now, she's much better. The wounds are scabbing and healing at the trunk and legs. There's really nothing there now. I think another week or so and she will be back to normal," said Dr. Taweepoke Angkawanish who works at the conservation park.
Phachi will stay in isolation from the other elephants for two months as she becomes accustomed to the company of humans. Workers say she was very frightened when she first arrived, but is now feeling more at home.
Dr. Taweepoke says hunting elephants for their ivory is barbaric.
"We're taking care of the elephants, but not solving the problem. An elephant has an average lifespan of 70 years. If we take care of the elephants for 50 to 60 years, that's a very long time. Separating baby elephants from their parents and taking them out of the wild is unnatural. That's the root of the problem we have to solve," he said.
The Lampang Elephant Conservation Park raises elephants that give performances for audiences. But those rescued from the wild are treated and returned to their owners. Those without an owner are taken to Pang Lha, a centre 80km away that serves as an elephant sanctuary. Roughly 27 elephants are currently housed there.
Thai media reports that several officials have been arrested for recent elephant killings, but it is not clear if Phachi's mother was among them.
Phachi got her name from the river in Ratchaburi Province. It is an old Thai tradition to name female elephants after the river and male elephants after the mountains.
3 News / Reuters