<P> The elephant has been a contributor to Thai society and its icon for many centuries . The elephant has had a considerable impact on Thai culture . The Thai elephant (Thai: ช้าง ไทย, chang Thai) is the official national animal of Thailand . The elephant found in Thailand is the Indian elephant (Elephas maximus indicus), a subspecies of the Asian elephant . In the early - 1900s there were an estimated 100,000 domesticated or captive elephants in Thailand . In mid-2007 there were an estimated 3,456 domesticated elephants left in Thailand and roughly a thousand wild elephants . It became an endangered species in 1986 . </P> <P> There are two species of elephant: African and Asian . Asian elephants are divided into four sub-species, Sri Lankan, Indian, Sumatran and Borneo . Thai elephants are classed as Indian elephants . Thai elephants have slight differences from other sub-species of Indian elephants . They are smaller, have shorter front legs, and a thicker body than their Indian counterparts . </P>

Why is the elephant the symbol of thailand
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