Elephant Sanctuary in Thailand: ethical or just a business?

Updated: June 25, 2024

Elephant sanctuaries in Thailand are sometimes a bit misleading, I'll tell you my experience so you can recognize an ethical 100% sanctuary.

In Thailand, one of the most visited places are the elephant sanctuaries, as well as shows and tours with these animals.

In some cases, they are places that clearly mistreat animals and in others it is not so clear to what extent they are ethical places.

Here in this article, I will tell you about my experience when I went to an elephant sanctuary and how to recognize an ethical one from an unethical one.

Importance of Elephants in Thailand and mistreatment

Elephants have always been of great importance in Thailand, long before tourism existed and before Thailand was Thailand.

In the ancient kingdom of Siam they were already used in wars, where warriors, instead of riding horses as they did in the West, rode elephants.

They have also been used in construction, the logging industry and in agriculture to plow fields.

Elephants in Thailand today

Today it is estimated that there are around 4,250 captive elephants that continue to work in the timber, entertainment and tourism industries.

In the wild, it is believed that there are about 3,100 elephants left, distributed mainly in national parks, according to the FAO.

When they work in felling trees, they are in charge of carrying the load of trunks that usually exceed their own weight, a hard job that they do based on abuse until they can't take it anymore, something that can last more than 30 years.

Although entertainment and tourism may sound like they are sectors that treat animals better, the reality is different.

For elephants to do any activity such as painting, dancing or being ridden, they must first be tamed.

⭐ In this article you can read more about the Visit to Khao Yai: the jungle near Bangkok, one of the national parks where you have the best chance of seeing free elephants.

Panjaa: taming or torture?

The domestication technique used in Thailand is called panjaa which means "to break the soul."

It is a torture of young elephants based on blows with a stick with nails in the most sensitive areas of the elephants (ears and eyes), deprivation of food and sleep until the elephant is subdued.

sacred elephants

On the other hand, elephants are sacred animals, in Buddhism the elephant is a sacred animal, which is why you will see sculptures of elephants in many Thai temples.

Even the temple of Doi Suthep was built where King Kue Na's elephant died, who interpreted it as a divine sign.

⭐ In this article you can read more about the Monks Trail in Chiang Mai to the temple of Doi Suthep.

Curious facts about Elephants

• Size: Asian elephants are smaller than their cousins, African elephants, but they are still animals of imposing size that can measure up to 2 meters high and weigh up to 5,000 kg, that is, almost 2.5 times the weight of an average car.
• Speed: Despite their large size, they can run up to 40 km/h, while an average person can run up to 10 km/h.
• Intelligence: An elephant's brain weighs 5 kg, or 5 times more than that of a human. Although brain size does not determine intelligence, elephants are known to be very adaptable, can use tools and have a great memory, all characteristics of an intelligent being.
• Sociable: Elephants are sociable beings that live in herds with a social scale within it.

My experience in an Elephant Sanctuary – Phuket Elephant Santuary

After doing a lot of research I decided to visit Phuket Elephant Santuary, mainly because they have thousands of good reviews on Google Maps and also people from the island recommended it to me.

Facts about the sanctuary:

• Location: northeast of Phuket island
• Entrance: half-day program 3,000 baht (82 euros) for adults and 1,500 baht (41 euros) for children up to 12 years old
• Transfer from the hotel: During the pandemic the price they asked me from the south of the island (Rawai) was 2,000 bahts, I went on my own.
• Opening Hours: The half-day visit is from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. or from 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.
• Elephants: at this moment they have 10 elephants and were waiting for the arrival of 2 more
• Surface: 12 hectares (0.12 km²) next to Khao Phra Thaeo National Park

The experience consisted of:

1.- After arrival and registration at the sanctuary offices they take you to the elephant reserve area.

2.- There we had a buffet breakfast. Then we were welcomed by one of the guides and we watched a video explaining the beginning of the sanctuary founded by a Thai who previously had a tourist elephant camp and was inspired by the work of the Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai.

3.- Before starting the visit they let us feed fruit to 2 elephants and take photos, this was the closest contact with the elephants.

4.- Finally it was time to visit the sanctuary and meet the elephants. The guide told us about each of the elephants, how old they were and some information about their previous life working and how they came to the sanctuary. This tour lasts around 2 hours.

Pros and cons of this sanctuary:

Bad points:

• Not all elephants receive fruit, we only gave it to 2 of the 10. I am also not sure that fruit is the most appropriate thing for an elephant, in the wild they would eat fruit only occasionally. In the afternoon they give them rice balls with fruit and pumpkin, which from what I understand is even worse because it is a food that these animals would never eat if they were free and it is too energetic.
• They only rescue adult females because in their video it seems that they are not against young elephants working. On the other hand, only male Asian elephants have tusks, something that makes them more dangerous.
• Some elephants do not walk, the day I went there were 3 that were locked up and we did not see any mahout nearby, that is, the elephant keeper who is in charge of its care and has a special relationship with the elephant.
• The space where they walk is quite small and the walks last just a little more than 2 hours, the time that the visitors are there.
• Something that seemed very sad to me is that they spend the rest of the day locked up, that is, 20 hours a day, because there are 2 visits a day.

For these reasons it seemed to me that the elephants are not their priority, which would be what would make a truly ethical sanctuary. It gave me the feeling that it is a zoo that aims to be a sanctuary to attract customers because every day we are more aware and sensitive to animal abuse.

Positive points:

• The elephants are well cared for, they have food, water and veterinary care, and I did not see anything that shows abuse.
• Furthermore, they are actually rescued from places where they were mistreated and lived in harsh conditions. As these are adult or elderly elephants that can no longer work, the price the sanctuary pays is much lower than if it were a young, strong animal.
• Although, perhaps, this sanctuary is a false sanctuary, they do an important job in rescuing these elephants who, otherwise, would have nowhere to go because they can no longer live in this wild. First because they have been raised in captivity and would not know how to survive, second because there are almost no jungles left in Thailand where they can live freely.

Conclusion of my visit:

In short, I got the feeling that their main objective is to make money and that it is not very different from any zoo, they just let them go outside for a while.

Something very different from a real sanctuary, but compared to the vast majority of places with elephants, here They don't have to work to earn food.

Phuket is one of the places that treat elephants and other animals the worst. In many places you can see chained babies or young elephants begging tourists for food and water because in these elephant camps they are not given anything.

In the south of the island, there is also another place that claims to be an ethical 100% sanctuary, this is Tree Top Elephant Sanctuary.

Although due to COVID I couldn't visit because they were closed almost all the time and I couldn't check if they are really 100% ethical.

What activities with elephants to avoid?

If you are traveling to Thailand and want to visit an elephant sanctuary that is 100% ethical or at least does not mistreat the animals, I recommend avoiding the following activities:

• Ride an elephant: Although they are large and strong animals, their spines are not prepared to support so much weight, the elephants on tours that carry tourists end up having problems being able to walk.
• Paint, dance, play soccer, etc.: Any activity an elephant does that it would never do in the wild, it is doing because it receives constant daily physical abuse for years.
• Baths with elephant: Elephants love bathing, it is a relaxing moment that they really enjoy, but they don't need any humans to do it. They can throw water over themselves with their trunks and rub themselves against the mud, which serves to eliminate parasites and protect their skin. In addition, elephants defecate and urinate where they bathe, making it completely unhygienic to bathe with them. As if that were not enough, these enormous animals like to lie in the water to rub themselves and some people have been crushed to death because the elephant did not see them.
• Photos with elephants: Now it is not very common to see elephants on the street that the caretaker offers to take a photo with, these elephants are very poorly cared for and taking a photo is contributing to this business.
• Any activity or contact with the elephant: things that the animal would not do if it were free and can cause these giants to become stressed and have unexpected behaviors. In case you may be touching an elephant, it is because during the hours when the tourists are not there, they train them with corporal punishment, you will probably see it if you look in the area behind their ears or eyes.

Where are there ethical 100% elephant sanctuaries?

This is a list of the truly ethical elephant sanctuaries in Thailand, they are published both on the responsible animal tourism website of the FAADA (Foundation for Advice and Action in Defense of Animals) and the World Animal Protection:

List updated 06/20/2024

1. Boon Lotts Elephant Sanctuary (BLES) in Sukhothai where they rescue elephants, dogs and cats.
2. Following Giants in Koh Lanta where they have 3 elephants, 1 male and 2 females.
3. Kindred Spirit Elephant Sanctuary In Chiang Mai they have elephants of different ages, even some very young.
4. Somboon Legacy Foundation in Kanchanaburi where 2 female elephants live who are grannies about 60 years old.
5. Burm and Emily's Elephant Sanctuary (BEES) in Chiang Mai they only have full-day programs to spend 1 or 3 nights and curiously their elephants are rented, which means that they pay the owner so that he continues to have an income to feed his family.

Final Thoughts

This is the sad reality of places that call themselves elephant sanctuaries in Thailand.

I know that many travelers when they travel to the country of smiles have the dream of being able to see elephants, my recommendation is that you find out very well about the place you are going to visit.

If not, you can also choose to visit national parks where you can see wild elephants.

If you have any questions, leave me a comment below and if you found the article useful, share it with other fellow travelers. 😘

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