\n<\/p>\n
One of the heroes of Sytsma\u2019s film and one of the main champions for Bua Noi\u2019s freedom is a 70-year-old Thai woman named Sinjira Apitan.<\/p>\n
Her house in central Bangkok is easy to spot.<\/p>\n
Outside in the small front garden is a life-size cardboard cut out of a gorilla. Around one of the trees, she has wrapped a tarpaulin sheet with hung paper cutouts of children\u2019s hands.<\/p>\n
Students have drawn pictures and written messages for Bua Noi, like \u201cborn to be wild\u201d and \u201cyou have my hands\u201d.<\/p>\n
They are symbols of the long campaign she has run for decades, originally as a fundraiser for an animal organisation, and later, simply as \u201can ordinary lady with common sense and a spiritual heart\u201d.<\/p>\n
Her life has become quietly and stubbornly tied to this single gorilla.<\/p>\n
She recalled a time where Bua Noi was a headline attraction for families in the growing metropolis. She would drive past what was a famous high-rise building at the time, and tell her children that there was a gorilla above the department store.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the past, she was very popular. Everybody knew about Bua Noi.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I said to my children, \u2018Look, how come there is a gorilla here? For what reason?\u2019 It’s like seeing a human being in jail. It\u2019s not normal. And you have to do something,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m turning 70 now, but for Bua Noi, I saw her when I was 30-something, and she is still there. The thing that hasn’t changed is the loneliness in her eyes. Her eyes say a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are very few people who know Bua Noi well.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sinjira is no exception. While a long-time advocate for the gorilla, she has spent little time with Bua Noi, especially as relations with Pata\u2019s owner have frayed over the years.<\/p>\n
The current owner\u2019s name is Kanit Sermsirimongkol, the brother of the original founder of the zoo, Vinai.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have never been enemies from how I feel. I just want to help him to be free from this situation,\u201d Sinjira said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe best memory is when I asked permission from the owner to sing her a song. I asked to climb up the ladder, and my voice could go through (the cage). Bua Noi was kind of excited. \u2018Who’s there? Who’s trying to help me?\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen she climbed down and sat and looked at me with her eyes. I think we have some connection. I’m lucky. I don’t think he would allow me to do that again after the campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pata Zoo denied a request from CNA for an interview or statement.<\/p>\n
But Kanit has previously given interviews to the media, defending his zoo\u2019s captivity and treatment of Bua Noi.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are no rules or regulations to say how much space each animal needs. It’s not about space, it’s about the way in which you treat the animals. The space that we provide to the animals is enough for them to freely move around, and to exercise,\u201d he told the Guardian back in 2010.<\/p>\n
Ten years later, he spoke to the Bangkok Post, again pushing back against growing efforts to free his solitary gorilla.<\/p>\n
\u201cWant to send her back to nature? We should think about the animals’ quality of life in the jungle. They are under threat from diseases like AIDS and Ebola, as well as civil wars and poachers. We can learn something from the bushfires in Australia that have killed around 500 million animals,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI won’t send Bua Noi to another country. She’s a treasure of Thais.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kanit maintains that she was brought here legally after being born in a German zoo.<\/p>\n
But others believe Bua Noi\u2019s journey stretches back through forests, across borders, and is embroiled in a murky global trade that back then, rarely left a reliable paper trail.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n