TAK: Taking a break from bashing his cousins in the Karen National Union, a sergeant major from the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) reportedly crossed the Thai border recently with an unusual piece of merchandise, one he got here to hawking at a unprecedented price. Sgt Maj Tinai, from the DKBA 999 Division, claimed to be in possession of none apart from a chang nam, or water elephant, which he was trying to promote for 5 million baht in Tak’s Mae Sot District. Water elephants, at just a few inches long, are much smaller than their land-living cousins. This specific specimen had a trunk, tusks and all 4 legs, said Sombat Phimpha, Headman of Wang Takinag village, who claimed had met the Burmese soldier. K. Sombat mentioned that the chang nam was five centimeters long and was caught in a pond near Ko Sae Ni village in Myanmar’s Karen State. The forest surrounding the pond was devoid of all wildlife as all animals, big or small, are afraid of the power of the chang nam, he mentioned. The specimen introduced by Sgt Maj Tinai died seven days after its capture. After its demise, villagers lightly grilled it to stop it from rotting, K. Sombat defined. “The villagers who found the chang nam gave it to the Karen Buddhist soldier to sell for them over the border. They knew Thais can be interested in shopping for chang nam, as they believe that whoever has one of their possession may have money pouring in and will know no hazard, only happiness,” he mentioned. This isn’t the first time Mae Sot has hit the news for its chang nam. In May 2003, a restaurant owner within the district achieved local fame when he claimed to have bought one from a Burmese man. Price break was 7.5cm tall, 12.5 cm lengthy and had all of the features that one would anticipate finding on a fully-formed elephant. Before it died, once more seven days after being captured, it had trumpeted like a full-size elephant, the proprietor claimed. Unfortunately, the owner was so apprehensive concerning the security of his valuable possession that he refused to let anyone see it. Sitthidech Mahawongsakul