Thailand · ELEPHANT SANCTUARY VISITS
No riding, no shows: the modern Thai camps are about feeding, walking and a mud bath you will not stay clean through. The 15 below differ on group size, how long you get with the herd and how far out of town they sit.
Ethical elephant sanctuary near Chiang Mai, plus Mae Wang waterfalls and bamboo rafting. Hotel pickup, lunch, fruits, and water included.
“Loved it. Exactly what it said it would be. Tons of time with the elephants and a special experience.”
Ethical elephant sanctuary and Maewang waterfall hike from Chiang Mai, with river bathing, Thai lunch, and comfortable guided transport.
“Amazing from start to finish! Loved this trip and our main guide Mimi. You are well looked after on this full day trip. Regular waters, an amazing hot lunch in tiffin tins, plenty of loo stops at each elephant station. All of the guides and elephant handlers love and care for them so much. They are really passionate about them. It’s completely ethical and done in a really considered way to ensure that. Definitely wear trainers!! Take sliders / flip flops if you want for the stations with water (bathing elephants and the waterfall). Lucky I had both and quickly put trainers on after first stop. We loved everything about…”
Half-day elephant sanctuary in Chiang Mai. Feed Napier grass and bananas, learn herbal treat prep, then bathe in the forest river.
“It was amazing! They really care for the elephants so please support this place as much as possible. Loved our guide King Kong 😁”
Phuket ethical elephant feeding at Elephant Jungle Sanctuary. Meet at Elephant Jungle Cafe, learn rescue stories, feed and observe for 1 hour.
“everything was perfect, it is really an ethical place :)”
Chiang Mai day trip with ethical elephant caretaker training, river bathing, Long Neck Village, Thai lunch, and Buatong Sticky Waterfall climbing.
“Very well organised trip, from meet point to transportation and lunch. Our guide Amy was not just "beautiful " but also amazing. Her knowledge was excellent. It was a perfect day. thank you”
A hands-on ethical elephant sanctuary day in Chiang Mai, with feeding, mud play, and Thai buffet lunch, plus time with baby elephants.
“This was absolutely amazing, a real bucket list experience. The people there (tour guides) absolutely made the trip too. Definitely recommend.”
Ethical Phuket elephant sanctuary: feed with bananas, mud spa, swim, Thai buffet, hotel pickup. 3 hours, $90 per person.
“Honestly the best day, the guides are amazing and the experience with the elephants was incredible.”
Half-day Krabi elephant sanctuary with guided rescue stories, feeding, mud spa sunscreen, and wash-off in the water.
“Amazing experience and we were told how to interact with the elephants to ensure they are happy and safe.”
Ethical elephant home tour on Koh Samui with transfers, guided museum, elephant food-making, jungle walk, seed bombs, and baths.
“Really great experience to see Elephants up close and personal, learning about the rescue work they are doing to look after elephants is just fantastic, earlier in our trip we came across elephants that were used for people to ride on and it was horrible to see them like this, but the Elephant sanctuary we visited was great you can see the guides who look after these elephants love them and take really good care of them, we were up close and personal feeding them then had a walk through the jungle with them and left them to just be themselves which was excellent to see. Definitely a fantastic experience.”
Ethical morning elephant viewing at Phuket Elephant Sanctuary, with jungle walk, canopy views, vegetarian buffet lunch, and hotel pickup.
“Great experience. It was very important to us that if we did a tour involving animals it was humane. We did a lot of research and landed on this tour. The elephants are well cared for, and you get to see them up close and feed them. The lunch was great! Staff is very friendly!”
A small-group, ethical Chiang Mai elephant sanctuary tour with up-close time, mud and river bathing, herbal food prep, and Thai lunch.
“We did the half-day tour with Kon and absolutely loved it. Everything was so smooth — we got picked up right from our hostel, stopped in a cafe en route because of the early start we didn’t get to grab a coffee in the city, and the small group made it feel really personal and relaxed. The experience felt very authentic — we mainly observed and fed the elephants rather than anything forced or touristy. You can really tell the elephants are well cared for and free to do what they want. Kon our guide was amazing! Super friendly and knowledgeable, sharing not just about the elephants but also lots…”
Ethical elephant day trip from Bangkok to Living Green Elephant Sanctuary, feed and walk with rescued elephants, then enjoy a jungle bath and Pad Thai.
“Great experience! A memory for life. However due to the distance and the city traffic jam, we spent more hours in the minivan rather than with the elephants.”
Feed elephants yourself at an ethical Koh Samui sanctuary, enjoy a guided 1-hour visit in a small group, and leave with great photos.
“It was lovely to learn about the elephants and where they had been rescued from. our guide was very knowledgeable. so lovely to get up close and have a chance to feed these beautiful creatures.”
Koh Samui jungle tour with elephant sanctuary feeding, Na Muang Waterfall, Secret Buddha Garden, and Teepangkorn Temple views plus lunch.
“This is my second time booking a tour with Happy Samui. All the tour guides speak great English. Emma was nice and helpful. Upon reading some other reviews I worried about timing but actually it was perfect and we got to see all the sights without feeling rushed or feeling bored. They got this timing down to a science! Here is a quick outline of how the timing worked out. 9:30 picked up and gather three more couples 10-10:30 waterfall 10:30-10:40 drive to see elephants 10:40-11:20 make elephant food, feed elephants, take some pics (2 big and 2 babies) 11:20-11:45 drive to secret garden (1st couple on top of jeep)…”
Ethical elephant sanctuary tour in Phuket with hotel pickup, a guided one-hour visit, hand-feeding, and stories of rescued elephants.
“The tour was incredible. The taxi pick up from the hotel on time and friendly. We were greeted at the elephant sanctuary by our guide. He was brilliant. We were given a briefing and information about how to behave around these beautiful rescued elephants. We prepared some elephant food and then went to find them. They were each with a keeper who clearly loved and respected their animal. We fed them, stroked their skin and followed them through the trees to watch them bathe in the mud. We were given plenty of water to drink. Had far more than an hour at the sanctuary it was a full afternoon with…”
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