More than a dozen elephants marched through the streets of Bangkok on Monday in a protest by their handlers over plans to enforce a ban on them begging.

The ban orders the handlers, or mahouts, to leave the capital with their elephants before Friday or face arrest.

The authorities say the elephants cause traffic jams and have been involved in traffic accidents.

A bull elephant recently ran amok and had to be shot with a tranquilliser dart.

Dependent on tourists

But the mahouts say they have no other way of making a living for their animals.

They usually sell elephant food such as bananas to tourists, who then feed the food to the elephants.

Sompas Meephan of the Ayuthaya Elephant Centre said: "The ban is unfair. It will only worsen the problem confronting domestic elephants and their impoverished owners."

The elephants' traditional role in logging has diminished as forests have been felled in Thailand.

Sompas urged the Thai Government to find jobs for the mahouts and their elephants and attacked a campaign by animal rights activists urging people to stop feeding the elephants.

The elephants and their handlers have gone to the province of Ayuthaya for temporary shelter.

One mahout called Pong said: "I think all of us will come back to town again, otherwise the elephant and my family will starve."