Thailand Elephant Experience Camp: A Complete Record of Touching Moments Close to Elephants

This time we came to Kanchanaburi Elephant Paradise, which is about a 4-hour drive from Bangkok. Elephant Haven ThailandThe wealthy family signed up for a one-day work experience at Elephant Paradise from the official website. Let’s take a look at these lovely elephants.

Transportation to Elephant Paradise

This time, the rich family went to Elephant Paradise on their own from The FloatHouse River Kwai Resort. They made an appointment with Elephant Paradise in advance for a paid pick-up and took the pick-up car from Phutakien Pier. The journey was 32 kilometers and took about 40 minutes. The car type was a nine-seater nanny car which was very comfortable and the fare was 1,000 baht.

The rich man had previously inquired about Elephant Paradise and Elephant World, and chartered a car all the way from Bangkok to the elephant camp in Kanchanaburi. If there are elders who want to participate, in order to avoid the fatigue of traveling, it is recommended to charter a car directly.

• Bangkok | Elephant Paradise, Elephant World Cost: 3,000 THB one-way, 4,000 THB round-trip
• Other areas: Contact the elephant camp for a quote

Elephant Paradise Fees

Elephant Paradise has three types of tours: half-day tours, full-day tours, and overnight tours. The rich man and his family chose the one-day tour this time. The price for adults is 2,500 baht, and the price for children is 1,250 baht, which is cheaper than Elephants World. The one-day tour includes free pick-up and drop-off in Kanchanaburi city, 6 hours of interaction with elephants, and lunch. The rich man thinks it is quite worth it.

Elephant Volunteer Equipment

The rich man thinks it is better to wear long pants when volunteering with elephants in Thailand, which can prevent mosquito bites and provide sun protection. Other necessary equipment are as follows:

• Snorkeling shoes – Most of the roads in the park are dirt roads, and shoes get dirty easily, so wear a pair of shoes that can be washed in water
• Swimming suit – to go in the water with the elephants
• Sun hat, sunglasses – Thailand has a strong sun
• Mosquito repellent – There are many mosquitoes in the jungle, but elephants don’t like them

Elephant Paradise Volunteer Experience Sharing

Meet & Elephant Snack Time – 9:00 AM

We gathered at Elephant Paradise early in the morning to meet the elephants. The fastest way to become good friends with elephants is to treat them to delicious food. The staff put out some banana leaves for the friends participating in today's volunteer activities to warm up first, and also wait for everyone to arrive.

The elephants line up, waiting for food to be delivered to their mouths. The elephants are really smart, they will use their strength to knock off or step on the stems they don't like, leaving only the leaves.

This elephant is the most mischievous. He put some branches on his head and raised his feet. It was really funny.

After the elephants finished their snack, they left without looking back and even defecated before leaving.

Elephant Paradise Introduction – 9:30 AM

Today’s tour guide D briefly introduced the founder of Elephant Paradise in English – Lek ChailertLek Chailert is an important figure in the conservation of elephants in Thailand. He has built elephant shelters in Kanchanaburi, Chiang Mai and other areas, and continues to promote the Elephant Freedom Project. In Kanchanaburi, this project has successfully freed seven elephants and returned them to nature. The elephants can freely walk in the jungle and play in the river without having to work. Unfortunately, one of the elephants died in March this year. There are a total of 6 elephants in the park. The youngest elephant is about 35 years old and the oldest is about 65 years old. These six elephants are all female elephants. According to the staff, it is more difficult for female elephants to live alone, so these elephant rescue stations basically save female elephants first. In addition to introducing the project, the names, ages, personalities of the most popular protagonist elephants and safety tips for interacting with elephants are also introduced.

Safety Tips for Elephant Volunteers:

• When playing with an elephant, you must stand where the elephant can see you, not behind it.
• When an elephant is in the river, it may fall sideways at any time, so keep a distance of 5 meters.
• When feeding an elephant, put the food directly into the elephant's trunk and don't pull your hand away, otherwise the elephant may get angry.

Volunteer Elephant Meal Preparation – 10:30 AM

Because elephants need to eat more than one-tenth of their body weight in food every day, which translates to about 300-400 kilograms, this massive food requirement can completely devour large expanses of grass. Consequently, keepers have begun to devise new ways to improve the food supply, creating rice balls to fill the elephants' stomachs and reduce their reliance on the natural environment.

Volunteers cut small red watermelons into quarters.

Rice balls are made with bananas, cooked rice, and a little Thai spices. They are rolled into baseball-sized pieces and then coated with a layer of powder (which seems to be ground rice husks). The elephants love them!

The volunteers spent about 15 minutes preparing the watermelons and rice balls. In total, they fed the elephants about 30 small watermelons and 50 rice balls, which were devoured in just 10 minutes. It seemed the elephants loved them.

Elephant Jungle Walk & River Drinking – 11:00 AM

After eating, I took a walk with the elephants. Unexpectedly, after entering the forest, the elephants continued to eat the grass on the ground.

The keepers also brought some food to attract the elephants' attention, so that we volunteers could take close photos with the elephants. When taking photos, I was constantly hit by the elephants' big ears. It was really a wonderful experience.

After eating, walking, and stopping, we finally walked to the river with the elephants. We replenished some water. The guide said that elephants drink 200 liters of water a day!

Volunteer Lunch Time – 12:00 noon

Lunch was a buffet with 5 or 6 dishes to eat. The dishes included white rice, sour shrimp soup (vegetarian), mixed stir-fried vegetables, fried rice noodles, French fries, baked eggs, and watermelon. The taste of the dishes was OK. By the way! The dishes are also suitable forvegetarian dietOh.

There is also black tea, coffee and small biscuits available on the side.

The rich man had a sumptuous lunch. After a big meal and a short rest to replenish his energy, he would give the elephant a good bath in the afternoon.

Elephant Feeding Time – 1:00 PM

After a short rest, we continued to feed the elephants some leaves as we did in the morning.

Elephant River Bath – 1:30 PM

The elephants played along the way, walked and stopped, and then gathered together to eat grass.

Back to the river, the volunteers are ready to bathe the elephants! Under the guidance of the elephant handlers, we can go to the elephants and rub their bodies. It's really embarrassing. The elephants' skin feels so rough. If you use human body parts to compare, it's like touching the skin of the knee, but much rougher (laughs). The hair on the elephants is also hard, like a steel sponge.

A close-up photo of an elephant after taking a bath. The round spots on its nose look so unreal.

After the elephant takes a bath, mud and sand will be sprinkled on its body, and the whole elephant will look brown. It may have a moisturizing effect because the weather in Thailand is too hot.

Cleaning – 2:30 p.m.

There is a shower area in the Elephant Paradise. After saying goodbye to the elephants, I quickly washed off the mud on my snorkeling shoes and swimsuit. But the rich man didn't seem to see the hair dryer, so it's better not to get your hair wet. After a little tidying up, I was ready to leave the Elephant Paradise. Goodbye, elephants, I hope you are all well.

The rich man thought the toilet was well maintained and clean.

Departing Elephant Paradise – 2:45 PM

We took the free shuttle bus from Elephant Paradise back to downtown Kanchanaburi. The shuttle bus was a 9-seater minibus. The traffic was smooth and the road conditions were good. We arrived at Kanchanaburi Bus Terminal about 40 minutes later and headed back to Bangkok.

There is a small shop in Elephant Paradise where you can buy souvenir T-shirts.

The cabin where we will stay overnight has been upgraded to an air-conditioned room. I heard that elephants will come and ask for food in the morning.

common problem

How to choose an elephant camp in Thailand?

To choose an elephant-friendly camp, you can first learn about the business philosophy from the official website and refuse elephant riding, performances and any coercive means, so that elephants can enjoy the dignity and freedom they deserve. The rich man went to the zoo during a day trip, and there were still many performances such as elephants. The trainer would take an iron hook and secretly stab the elephants, and then ask them to do stunts, which was really cruel.

After chatting with the volunteers at Elephant Paradise, I learned that Thailand currently relies on tourism as its main source of income, so there is no explicit rule prohibiting elephant riding or any elephant performances. But at least more and more elephant volunteers are standing up to speak up for these elephants.

Can you ride an elephant in Thailand?

Elephant riding is still permitted in Thailand, and some tourist attractions offer elephant rides in Thai attire. According to the tour guide, elephants used to earn their food through labor (such as carrying loads), but these tasks are no longer necessary. This makes feeding elephants a challenge, which is why some zoos still offer elephant shows. At Elephant Paradise, the wealthy man saw several iron chairs that were once placed on the elephants' bodies, symbolizing their regained freedom.

rich man experience

The most important thing about supporting elephant camps in Thailand is that they don't encourage riding, performances, or the use of hooks to control elephants, allowing them to truly be free. However, finding sufficient resources to support the elephants remains a challenge. Elephant volunteer camps across Thailand were born out of this context.

Although the journey to Elephant Paradise is a bit far, it is a very special experience to be able to get close to the elephants. Just standing next to the elephants and watching them eat with relish is worth the price of admission. They are really super cute animals. It is also very wonderful to be able to touch the elephants with your own hands. The skin is rough and feels like a human knee. The rich man never thought it would feel this way.

There are other large camps in Kanchanaburi, such as Elephant World. I feel that the elephant camp in Kanchanaburi is more natural and less commercialized. The elephants living here are really well cared for. Friends who like animals are really worth a visit and give them support. I sincerely recommend it!

summary

• Volunteer experience is cheap
• Elephant Paradise official website reservation cannot be cancelled
• Long drive

Elephant Paradise Information

Official website:https://elephanthaventhailand.org/

further reading