How to Ethically Visit Elephants in Thailand

When I began planning my trip to Thailand, I knew I had to plan a trip to see some elephants. They're gentle, caring creatures that almost seem human in their interactions. Through my friends and my own research, I learned a lot about how NOT to interact with elephants abroad.

Ethical tourism is the idea that when you are being a tourist, you should do so in a way that benefits the people and environment of the place you are visiting. In simple terms, it means to understand the impact of what you are doing and whether it is appropriate and beneficial or actually offensive and harmful.

I learned that elephants in Asia are often horribly mistreated, as they often captured and used for tourist purposes. People will pay to ride them or see them do tricks, which often involves physical harm to the animals. Before an elephant can be ridden, it must go through the "crush" process, which means it is broken. The elephants are beaten, tied with tight chains, and underfed throughout their lives before many of them die of exhaustion. During our trip, we actually saw many elephants tied up in small plots of land along the road. It was horrifying. She looked sad and beaten and horribly depressed, and it broke my heart.

After learning all this, I found a company called Elephant Jungle Sanctuary. It is an organization that purchases or rescues elephants who have been used as laborers in the fields or have been released into the wild by former owners. They are placed in these large camps, where they are fed and given free range to do what they want, and tourists can come visit them and learn about the ethical treatment of elephants.

The organization picked us up around 7 a.m. in a small, black open back truck. A man named หนึ่ง, or the number one, in Thai. We picked up some more members of our tour and headed to the camp.

We immediately changed into traditional Thai shirts, made of colorful woven fabric. Then, the handlers taught us a little about how to safely interact with the elephants and what the organization does. Suddenly, we heard a trumpet and turned around to see a small herd of elephants making its way toward us. It was three babies and a handful of adults.

.We fed them bananas by holding them out while the elephants grabbed them with their trunks and curled them up to their mouths. We could also place a banana directly in their mouths by telling them "bon bon.

Then, the elephants moved to a little patch of dirt to be fed. We were able to touch them and take lots of photos while they happily munched on bamboo.

Once the elephants had eaten the bamboo, they led us to the watering hold, where we bathed them and played in the water. Their keepers would say specific words, and they would spray us with water from their trunks. After they had bathed, they led us to the mud pit, where we lathered mud along their sides and legs to help keep them cool and protected from the sun. It was interesting how each elephant seemed to have its own personality and would interact with people differently. They were so fun to be with and made me appreciate nature a little more.

We were then able to rinse off and change clothes, and we were fed soup, rice with vegetables, curry potatoes, and fruit. It was one of the best meals I ate in Thailand!

The biggest thing I think everyone learned from this excursion was how important it is to respect nature and animals. The elephants are such beautiful piece of Thai wildlife, and they deserve protection and love. If you want to learn more about Asian elephants and the hardships they face, visit this website for more information.