Thailand’s most well-known tourist attractions include elephants, but visitors should exercise caution and follow moral rules by not touching elephants while visiting rhino camps.
World Animal Protection Thailand has urged tents to stop using animals to amuse tourists, and it is also asking that tourists be prohibited from engaging in hands-on activities like cleaning and feeding.
Many vacationers have expressed problems in finding a” certainly ethical” no-touch temple, with some opting out of the practice altogether. The Livestock Department estimates that Chiang Mai, Thailand’s center for elephant commerce, has about 90 shelters and has 871 animals to choose from.
Although some sanctuaries are marketed as “ethical,” they also provide visitors with close encounters with animals and mud bathing experiences.
Because they all claimed to be so, it was difficult to find an honest temple. But, when we delved a little deeper, we realized that some places offer pools or handfeed elephants, but still hold this view as moral,” said LuLu Foures, a student from a French college who is traveling through Chiang Mai.
Another reason why travelers are taking more steps when choosing to participate in rhino experience is the death of a 22-year-old Spanish holiday at the Koh Yao Elephant Care Center in the southern state of Phangnga in December 2024.
Maggie Gibson, 22, a traveller from New Zealand, said:” We consciously chose to go to a no-touch temple because it felt bad. The passing of our spouse further strengthened our choice. Elephant should not be touched because they don’t want to be touched.
Based on data from the Livestock Department, there are 5, 359 cultivated elephants in 245 elephant tents global.
According to Trunks Up, a qualified organization dedicated to protecting Asian animals, 55.8 % of animals in Thailand live in prison, in shelters or temples that rely on tourism for life.
According to Trunks Up, professional elephant tourism can get ugly in reality. Elephants continue to be kept in violent, harsh conditions despite the rise in greenwashed marketing tactics and the rise of businesses advertising themselves as sanctuaries.
Catherine Baldwin, a solo backpacker from the United Kingdom, was opposed to visiting an elephant sanctuary immediately.
” Oftentimes, even with the deepest studies, you can’t always be certain you’re provided with the information. I really find it a little strange, which makes it difficult to enjoy”, said Ms Baldwin.
Blue Daily Elephant Care Sanctuary in Chiang Mai is an example of a no-touch, no-bathing, no-feeding rhino encounter, where travellers observe the rescued animals roaming freely from afar.
Billy, a guide who has worked at the sanctuary for 10 years, said:” We like to protect the elephants ‘ happiness. Instead of being touched, we want to see them happy.
Five rescued elephants who have been forced into logging have been rescued at the site. They now have 50 acres ( 126 rai ) of land on which to roam.
A Karen tribe mahout takes care of each elephant, whose skill is passed down through the generations.
Billy explained that Blue Daily does not permit visitors to bathe or feed the animals, unlike many Chiang Mai sanctuaries. If they don’t have the freedom to choose, “elephants don’t like being bathed,” he said.
LuLu Foures made the decision to go with Blue Daily after researching what felt truly moral in her Chiang Mai elephant encounter. ” For them, it is essential to let the elephants be elephants. It was never the other way around; we moved with the elephants at their pace. If the elephants want to approach, then they approach, but it is never initiated by the human”, she explained.
World Animal Protection ( WAP ) estimated that before Covid-19, elephants generated up to US$ 770 million ( about 25.8 billion baht ) a year for Thailand. The pandemic drastically impacted the industry, leaving sanctuaries reliant on external donations. One sanctuary that received philanthropic donations in the wake of Covid-19 was Blue Daily.
One solo traveller, who wished to remain anonymous, spent a week volunteering at Chiang Mai’s Elephant Nature Park, a sanctuary founded by Saengduean Chailert, an internationally acclaimed pioneer in elephant protection.
The traveler was a member of a group of 50 people who paid to volunteer and get information on Asian elephants and their struggles. The group worked for 4–6 hours, cleaning and rebuilding the park after the recent Chiang Mai floods, and working in the “elephant kitchen” preparing food for the animals.
A volunteer remarked,” I know a lot of people were concerned about this being another unethical sanctuary, but everyone said the feeling vanished after seeing Lek ( Saengduen’s nickname ) and her husband Darrick.
The sanctuary is building a skywalk to allow visitors to remain even more uninsightful than they are right now.
The elephant tourism industry in Thailand has a significant impact on the survival of thousands of people who rely on the elephant industry for their income, so the debate continues.
However, there is a chance that “ethical” greenwashing in sanctuaries that won’t stop visitors from visiting altogether.