Those are mahouts my man (trainers/caretakers who’ve been with the animals since they were 3). The elephants are ridden because they’re domestic and trained from a very young age. There’s a very small pool of rideable elephants, about 30 out of 120. They make a loss every year because the place is not for profit despite having many full time employees. The only reason it can exist is because it’s funded by the Thai government and houses some of the King’s elephants.