I love animals, it’s as simple as that. Just like most animal lovers, I enjoy close up animal encounters, however in the tourist industry, this isn’t always in the animal’s best interest.
Elephants are a classic example. Finding a true ethical elephant sanctuary in Thailand isn’t as easy as you would think. We wanted no riding, no bathing, no mud baths, and all did at least one of these.
During the four months I spent touring Africa, I encountered many elephants in their natural habitat. Aything less than seeing these beautiful, intelligent, high spirited animals roaming free saddens me.
Everyone knows that elephant tourism in places like Thailand, India, Sri Lanka and even Bali means these gentle giants have suffered for the pleasure of humans. How on earth was I able to get a close-up experience with them, knowing they were not “performing”?
Volunteering was a great place to start, but which out of the plethora of sanctuaries would I choose when I was visiting Thailand?
Elephant Valley Thailand was the one for me!
Elephants are a classic example. Finding a true ethical elephant sanctuary in Thailand isn’t as easy as you would think. We wanted no riding, no bathing, no mud baths, and all did at least one of these.
During the four months I spent touring Africa, I encountered many elephants in their natural habitat. Aything less than seeing these beautiful, intelligent, high spirited animals roaming free saddens me.
Everyone knows that elephant tourism in places like Thailand, India, Sri Lanka and even Bali means these gentle giants have suffered for the pleasure of humans. How on earth was I able to get a close-up experience with them, knowing they were not “performing”?
Volunteering was a great place to start, but which out of the plethora of sanctuaries would I choose when I was visiting Thailand?
Elephant Valley Thailand was the one for me!
This is how I have always seen elephants - wild and free
Choosing the right sanctuary
Before choosing an elephant sanctuary, I spent weeks researching the best one. I read travel blogs, listened to word of mouth recommendations then when in Chiang Mai, I picked up countless leaflets all promising a close up experience with elephants. Some “sanctuaries” included riding and they all included washing and bathing with them, but this didn’t feel right.
I must have read literally hundreds of reviews on Trip Advisor and for every single sanctuary that was brought to my attention, there was always one or two reviews which mentioned how the elephants were treated by the mahout’s when they thought no one was looking. Some reviews expressed sadness with regard to the elephants bathing in the mud; guests had said it was obvious they didn’t want to go into the mud but were required to as per the schedule. A sanctuary that included bathing and washing the elephants wasn’t one that I wanted to visit. I felt this meant the elephants weren’t as free as I would like them to be; if they wanted to splash around in the mud, I wanted to know it was because they wanted to and not because a group of tourist were waiting to participate in their “daily ritual”.
Before choosing an elephant sanctuary, I spent weeks researching the best one. I read travel blogs, listened to word of mouth recommendations then when in Chiang Mai, I picked up countless leaflets all promising a close up experience with elephants. Some “sanctuaries” included riding and they all included washing and bathing with them, but this didn’t feel right.
I must have read literally hundreds of reviews on Trip Advisor and for every single sanctuary that was brought to my attention, there was always one or two reviews which mentioned how the elephants were treated by the mahout’s when they thought no one was looking. Some reviews expressed sadness with regard to the elephants bathing in the mud; guests had said it was obvious they didn’t want to go into the mud but were required to as per the schedule. A sanctuary that included bathing and washing the elephants wasn’t one that I wanted to visit. I felt this meant the elephants weren’t as free as I would like them to be; if they wanted to splash around in the mud, I wanted to know it was because they wanted to and not because a group of tourist were waiting to participate in their “daily ritual”.
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Then I found Elephant Valley Thailand. Based near Chiang Rai, their elephant encounter promises to “let elephants be elephants” and to “teach elephants to be elephants again” after years of submissively doing as they were told. Elephant Valley Project has been successfully operating in Cambodia for 10 years and have now brought their “no riding, no bathing no washing” approach to Thailand.
So why is Thailand’s national animal treated so badly and used so heavily in tourism? Back in the 1980’s, logging was a big industry and elephants were used for work. When the government imposed a complete ban on all commercial logging in 1989, the elephant keepers needed to find an alternative source of income and that’s when the idea of elephant riding and circus shows were born. This quickly became a very lucrative business, especially after the 2000 movie The Beach which gave the country a huge tourism boom.
I am sure, by now, you have read some sort of literature explaining how bad elephant riding is and, you may also realise it’s not just riding the elephants that is a problem, but the suffering they have to go through to become “submissive” to enable tourists to ride them. The process is called Phajaan which uses daily torture to break the elephant’s strong spirit, but, in truth, I don’t wish to write any more about this process as it distresses me and I find it quite disgusting.
However it is very important that you know what is involved in the Phajaan process to better understand the plight of an elephant in any tourist industry. If you do not know what is involved and wish to know what I am referring to, please take a moment to read what Elephant Voices have to say.
To this day, the elephant riding statistics are still scary; in 2016, over 30 million tourists visited Thailand and around 27% rode elephants. As there are around 2,000 elephants in the Thailand tourist industry, this means approximately 10 people ride each elephant every single day.
I am sure, by now, you have read some sort of literature explaining how bad elephant riding is and, you may also realise it’s not just riding the elephants that is a problem, but the suffering they have to go through to become “submissive” to enable tourists to ride them. The process is called Phajaan which uses daily torture to break the elephant’s strong spirit, but, in truth, I don’t wish to write any more about this process as it distresses me and I find it quite disgusting.
However it is very important that you know what is involved in the Phajaan process to better understand the plight of an elephant in any tourist industry. If you do not know what is involved and wish to know what I am referring to, please take a moment to read what Elephant Voices have to say.
To this day, the elephant riding statistics are still scary; in 2016, over 30 million tourists visited Thailand and around 27% rode elephants. As there are around 2,000 elephants in the Thailand tourist industry, this means approximately 10 people ride each elephant every single day.
An introduction to the elephants
Elephant Valley Thailand offer a number of options, half day visits, full day visits, overnight experiences and volunteering programs. We knew we wanted more than just a fleeting visit so opted for the Overnight package.
At 8.30am we were picked up by our diver arriving at the camp by 9am where we were given a quick Health and Safety briefing. We were told that the elephants are allowed to roam free but are being re-educated to become elephants again, this meant a certain amount of personal space had to be applied. We were instructed to stay 25 metres away from the elephants, unless we were in one of the purpose-built “elephant castles” and if the elephant chose to come close to us then so be it.
Elephant Valley Thailand offer a number of options, half day visits, full day visits, overnight experiences and volunteering programs. We knew we wanted more than just a fleeting visit so opted for the Overnight package.
At 8.30am we were picked up by our diver arriving at the camp by 9am where we were given a quick Health and Safety briefing. We were told that the elephants are allowed to roam free but are being re-educated to become elephants again, this meant a certain amount of personal space had to be applied. We were instructed to stay 25 metres away from the elephants, unless we were in one of the purpose-built “elephant castles” and if the elephant chose to come close to us then so be it.
The "human" area where we enjoyed lunch and our Health & Safety briefing
This sanctuary is 15.5 acres; 1% is for humans and the rest is for the elephants. There were four elephants here when we visited in April 2017 and now they have six, all of which have a background of working in the logging industry. Maddy ("Mo Dee" meaning good mother) is 36 and was the first to arrive at the sanctuary, she quickly adopted 8 year old Lou who arrived a few days later. Then there is 38 year old Claire whose best friend is 12 year old Jay who was pregnant at the time of our visit, due to give birth any day!
Meet the elephants!
Our elephant experience
Talk time was over, it was now time to find the elephants! It didn’t take long, after a few minutes of walking we found Maddy and Lou munching on some long grass. We stood watching them for around 20 minutes until they had their fill and wandered to another part out of site. We learnt that Maddy had stepped on a landmine back in Myanmar (then Burma) around 22 years ago but the wound in her right foot was left untreated. When she came to EVT (Elephant Valley Thailand), she was admitted to hospital for two months where she received treatment, but she appeared to still favour standing on her left foot. The staff were unsure if she was still feeling pain or if she was instinctively standing on her left foot because she had been used to pain in the right for so long.
Talk time was over, it was now time to find the elephants! It didn’t take long, after a few minutes of walking we found Maddy and Lou munching on some long grass. We stood watching them for around 20 minutes until they had their fill and wandered to another part out of site. We learnt that Maddy had stepped on a landmine back in Myanmar (then Burma) around 22 years ago but the wound in her right foot was left untreated. When she came to EVT (Elephant Valley Thailand), she was admitted to hospital for two months where she received treatment, but she appeared to still favour standing on her left foot. The staff were unsure if she was still feeling pain or if she was instinctively standing on her left foot because she had been used to pain in the right for so long.
Maddy (Mo Dee meaning good mother)
Lou - Mo Lou Por (which means Cotton in the Karen tribe language)
We continued walking around and just around the corner in a muddy area, Claire and Jay were happily eating, until they decided they wanted to wallow in the mud. So that is exactly what they did. With no mahout around, no one telling them they needed to roll, no one in a bikini bouncing around next to them with a photographer taking photos for Facebook; the elephants chose to lay in the mud at that moment in time. It was beautiful to watch. The elephants were free to be elephants.
That looks like a smile on her face if you ask me!
Elephants being elephants - it was their choice to wallow in the mud
If you have a moment, please check out this short clip of the elephants wallowing in the mud - it's beautiful (even if I do say so myself!)
After a few minutes of splashing mud over themselves, they stood up and wandered in the direction of the pond.
The “elephant castle” is next to the pond and was our safety zone, a place we were able to sit and watch. Claire and Jay slowly walked into the pond, ears flapping all the time which is their sign of contentment and happiness, then we listened as they trumpeted with glee and submerged themselves completely under the water.
The “elephant castle” is next to the pond and was our safety zone, a place we were able to sit and watch. Claire and Jay slowly walked into the pond, ears flapping all the time which is their sign of contentment and happiness, then we listened as they trumpeted with glee and submerged themselves completely under the water.
One of the "elephant castles", where humans can sit and watch the elephants at a respectful distance
Please watch this short clip showing the elephants walking into the water alone - no mahout telling them, this is what they wanted to do right now.
The mahouts had been watching the elephants from afar. As I mentioned, these elephants are still in the process of being re-trained to be an elephant which does involve washing, however only their mahouts are allowed to do this. By allowing “strangers” (i.e tourists) to wash them, it can make them stressed. As they say at EVT “you would never be invited to swim with wild elephants in a river, so why would you jump into a river with a captive elephant?”.
We were led to the washing area and sat down in another “elephant castle”. Maddy and Lou walked in first and we sat watching as the mahouts hosed them with water. This is where the elephants’ mischievous side shone through and we watched with joy as Maddy picked up the hose and began to drink from it. After Maddy and Lou had finished playing, they were walked away to allow Claire and Jay to come to the washing area. The process was repeated and it was Claire’s turn to be cheeky this time, lifting up the hose and playing with it.
It was now time for our only close up interaction - feeding them bananas. That was fine with me. A pile of bananas was placed on a table and we fed the four elephants one banana at a time, well, we tried to feed them one at a time but they always tried to steal more, the little rascals!
Waiting patiently (or is it impatiently?!) for their favourite food ... bananas!
Sy attempting to feed bananas one by one to the elephants
All four elephants had now been fed, so now it was the humans’ time to enjoy lunch and a delicious spread of food was laid out for us back at the “human quarters”.
Volunteering
Volunteering
There were 6 of us volunteering when we visited ... we bonded over elephant poop!
After lunch it was time to help out around the sanctuary and our task for the day was clearing bamboo which had been cut down after elephants had finished eating it. The bamboo will be used to baby proof certain areas when Jay’s little one is born and to build an outside toilet.
Sy clearing away the old bamboo
Whilst working away, we sometimes forgot where we were and all of a sudden we would see an elephant in the distance walking towards us. To keep to the 25-metre distance rule, we would quickly move out of their way ensuring they kept their personal space. Not that they stuck to their side of the bargain; on one occasion when we were in the “elephant castle” Lou wanted a closer look and came right up to us, munching on the grass in front of the hut. But this is the elephant’s home and if these curious creatures wanted to come too close, that was their choice.
Oooops, an elephant is approaching ... best move out of her way to keep the respectful 25 metre distance!
Some elephants clearly don't know how far 25 metres is!
Mmmmm you smell nice ...
During the course of our afternoon, we would end up following the elephants around just to simply watch them and spend more time with them, all the while ensuring we kept the respectful distance. Jay loved to play with car tyres and we watched as she ran around tossing the tyre up into the air and kicking it with her feet. Every now and then she would let out a trumpeting noise, Claire would come and join her so they could sniff one another’s bottoms; this is apparently due to elephant hierarchy!
It's playtime for Jay!
Speaking of bottoms, that was another job for us after breakfast the next morning … cleaning up elephant poop! We were given some gloves, a shovel and a wheel-barrow then we shovelled until it was all cleaned up. I never thought I would be so content cleaning poop!
Elephants eat a lot of food (we can vouch for that after the amount of poop we had to scoop!) They need to eat 10% of their body weight per day made up of around 100kg of grass and 4kg of bananas which helps them digest the grass. At EVT they have 6 acres of land in which they grow their own grass. Every day 420kg is cut down by hand to feed the four elephants and, as volunteers, we had an opportunity to help. Sy was handed a machete so off he went for an hour with the workers cutting down grass and bundling it up ready for the elephants' dinner!
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Whenever we had time to ourselves, I would literally stalk the elephants and watch the mahouts like a hawk. I wanted to see if they influenced the elephants in anyway such as leading them to the mud or walking them to a particular area at a certain time of day, and I am so happy they never. The elephants walked wherever they wanted and did what they wanted to do.
The mahouts watched the elephants but never influenced them - the elephants were allowed to do what they wanted, when they wanted
A night in the jungle
As the light of day was starting to fade, we showered and enjoyed our dinner with a couple of cold cans of beer. As darkness arrived, the noises of the jungle became our entertainment and we could hear crickets and watched fireflies. Then it started to rain … ahhhhh, the refreshing noise of rain in the jungle – you can’t beat it.
We retired to our big, clean, comfortable room and slept soundly listening to the familiar chorus of jungle crickets.
If you are looking for a true elephant encounter, I implore you to visit Elephant Valley Thailand. The work they are doing here is solely for the elephants to be themselves with no other agenda. Thailand needs more sanctuaries like this, and elephants need to be elephants.
To book a visit with Elephant Valley Thailand, email: [email protected].
If you would like to follow the elephants' activity, like their Facebook page and watch the wonderful videos they regularly post!
If you want to help educate others as to why elephants should not be ridden, please share this post with your friends on Facebook, Pinterest, Stumble, Twitter - any social media platform that you have - tell the world the truth behind elephants in the touristy industry!
We would love to know what you thought about our elephant encounter, so please share them with us in the comment section below!
As the light of day was starting to fade, we showered and enjoyed our dinner with a couple of cold cans of beer. As darkness arrived, the noises of the jungle became our entertainment and we could hear crickets and watched fireflies. Then it started to rain … ahhhhh, the refreshing noise of rain in the jungle – you can’t beat it.
We retired to our big, clean, comfortable room and slept soundly listening to the familiar chorus of jungle crickets.
If you are looking for a true elephant encounter, I implore you to visit Elephant Valley Thailand. The work they are doing here is solely for the elephants to be themselves with no other agenda. Thailand needs more sanctuaries like this, and elephants need to be elephants.
To book a visit with Elephant Valley Thailand, email: [email protected].
If you would like to follow the elephants' activity, like their Facebook page and watch the wonderful videos they regularly post!
If you want to help educate others as to why elephants should not be ridden, please share this post with your friends on Facebook, Pinterest, Stumble, Twitter - any social media platform that you have - tell the world the truth behind elephants in the touristy industry!
We would love to know what you thought about our elephant encounter, so please share them with us in the comment section below!
How to get to Chiang Rai
Flying: Air Asia fly to Chiang Rai from Chiang Mai, Bangkok, and many other places in Thailand, however it is also very close to the border of Myanmar and Laos if you wanted to travel overland.
By Train: You will need to get a train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, then a bus. We checked the train scheduled and bought tickets online through 12GoAsia from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. They also travel all over Asia and you can check boat, train and boat schedules ahead of time.
By bus From Chiang Mai: All walks of life catch the bus from Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai. We saw a mix of tourists, men from the Royal Thai Army and two monks. Buying a ticket is simple; from the Green Bus Thailand website choose your departure date, type of bus (Express buses are 4 seats across, VIP are 3 seats – we opted for the latter), time of departure, and your seat choice. You are given a numerical code (take a photo of the code on your phone) and show this number to the cashier at your nearest 7/11 shop. The cost was approximately 270 baht per person (£6.13/US $8.16)
Flying: Air Asia fly to Chiang Rai from Chiang Mai, Bangkok, and many other places in Thailand, however it is also very close to the border of Myanmar and Laos if you wanted to travel overland.
By Train: You will need to get a train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, then a bus. We checked the train scheduled and bought tickets online through 12GoAsia from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. They also travel all over Asia and you can check boat, train and boat schedules ahead of time.
By bus From Chiang Mai: All walks of life catch the bus from Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai. We saw a mix of tourists, men from the Royal Thai Army and two monks. Buying a ticket is simple; from the Green Bus Thailand website choose your departure date, type of bus (Express buses are 4 seats across, VIP are 3 seats – we opted for the latter), time of departure, and your seat choice. You are given a numerical code (take a photo of the code on your phone) and show this number to the cashier at your nearest 7/11 shop. The cost was approximately 270 baht per person (£6.13/US $8.16)
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