Elephant Observatory Site, Kui Buri National Park — Attraction in Prachuap Khiri Khan Province

The" Safari" is about driving along one single road to a view area and back, no more no less!

Chance to see elephants is good because the road is along the open plane/ side of the mountain. The elephants seem to be "trapped" in this area due to the mountains.

It is NOT a jungle safari! Elephants are far away and the trucks do not go off road/ closer, because they are not off road trucks.

We came with our 4x 4 truck and wanted to go along the road (not off road!) according to the park rules on the sign, where entrance with a car or even a bicycle are suggested (see foto).

Foregneir pay 200 THB Car is charged 30 THB.

On the official sign the guide truck is an option!

The probably corrupt part is that the gude pick up truck is said to be obligatory . That is what is told at the official ticket counter where you can buy a ticket at 2 PM ( not before).

This means that an invasion of approx. 30 or morre pick up trucks start at 2 pm at the same time!

It is NOT possible to enter by own car !

The road is very easy and boring, without natural jungle.

All clients must rent a Pick up truck with one driver and one guide.

If you have booked a tour you pay way too much, because all you have to pay is 200 thb entrance and 150 / person for the shared truck

The guides explain nothing, because the car only stops at aporox 3 places where you see elephants ... or not.

The guides have a radio, so they know where the elephants are at the moment so that all trucks know more or less if an elephant is at the view point. Why they need a radio is strange, because the trucks move like a silly train one after each other🤣

It is unfair and discrimination because the entrance fee is "only" 200 thb / foreigner ( which is 5 x as much as the price for a Thai!). It should be free for nationals.

The rip off is that you are literally forced to hire an entire pick up truck, that is allowed to take up to 6 people on the truck bed.

The pick up trucks have no roof and you sit on a wooden board.

Those super simple trips are sold online for up to 4000 thb / person, which I consider as coruption!

I think the park administration is either corrupt or the organisation is at least cooperating with local pick up driver "mafia" that act as if they were park rangers. All the trucks are regular cars and not from government

The binoculars for rent are of bad quality/ cheap lenses that have no wide view and almost no magnification.

At first we were told that we have to pay 200 thb and 850 thb / person for the obligatory pick up truck.

Then suddenly we were told that we have to pay 200 THB and must hire a pick ip truck for 850 THB. We should sell the Pick Up Truck capacity of 6 persons to other people so that it can be shared between the buyers.

I asked if it is correct that I should start organizing and actually selling my hired pick up truck at the park entrance and they confirmed it!!!

How to organize it better? Thai Government should stopp the" "rip off" that is sold via "get your guide" and Huahin tour operators!

Contract guides that speak english if you charge forengeirs 5 x more!

Private cars should be permited or no cars at all, because it makes no sense that 6 people on an open pick up truck shall be safe in case of an incedent!

It would be smarter to place the guids / rangers along the road to guide the "traffic" and have the able private cars assemble at the view points. Guided pick up trucks could be an option, no problem ... but at least with a roof!

At the big entrance area shall provide more healthy food options ... there is no food available. The park is open only at 14 PM and those who wait can not get food.

Other national parks in Thailand are much better organized and present a better all over experience!

Since the chances to see elephants are good in Kiri park it is sad that the entire experience is in hand of overpriced tour operators or/ and the "pick up transport mafia".

Sorry, but please take down the official sign that indecates that you can go with your own car ( see foto!).

I...

KUI BURI NATIONAL PARK ELEPHANT SAFARI 5 stars

A group of 5 of us went on Friday, February 21, 2025 at about 3:30 pm. It was our 3rd national park visit of the day.

GENERAL INFO - Renowned as the premier spot for wild elephant watching in Thailand, this place is 969 km² and has approximately 300 elephants. They are not fed, chained, tracked, nor interacted with at all, and you’re not even guaranteed to see them. We actually got to see 8 (1 from very far away… and then 7 more, including some babies, crossing the road in front of our vehicle as we were heading back out of the park.

FEE - you may know that purchasing a National Park ticket here in Thailand for 200 baht gets you into other national parks on the same day for free. Unfortunately, this is not the case with this park. We had to purchase entrance tickets again for this park, as it is apparently not part of same national park system. This was an additional 200baht pp that day than we had expected to spend. The actual safari truck ride cost another 800baht per party (max 6 people). Totally worth it!

RESERVATIONS - we had no reservations, showed up for about the last safari tours of the day, and had no issues getting to do the safari.

TRUCKS - the safari vehicles are basically pickup trucks with a driver in the cab, and the visitors in the back with a spotter/guide. There are 2 bench seats in the back, and bars all around to hold onto and help keep you in your seat. It’s a dusty and bumpy ride at times.

STAFF - the driver and guide in our truck are in constant radio communication with each other and with other drivers/spotters so that everyone knows when/where a spotting is occurring. We communicated with our guide via Google Translate.

SCENERY - dirt roads and lots of greenery. After driving out to the end of where the safaris go, we stopped at a clearing with a view down to some plains below. No elephants roaming there for us that day, but lovely view.

TIMING - you are NOT guaranteed an elephant sighting. I’m actually ok with this because it means no elephants are chained up for our viewing pleasure (like they are at other elephant “sanctuaries” we’ve visited here). The majority of the elephants we saw were near the end of the day just before closing. Also, the weather was bearable at that time of day. If I were going back, I’d shoot for this timing again.

Recommend - absolutely yes! I loved this...

Great experience It costs us about 1500 Bath - just over $ 40,= in total (truck, guide, parking, 3 foreigners), for a tour of about 2 hours in the back of a Pickup truck. I call that a steal and well worth the money.

We were lucky to see elephants up close, even a mother and baby elephant taking a bath. You may not see a thing though.

Tickets are bought at the Vitistor centre at the far corner of the parking lot. The entrance is at the other end.

We arrived at 15h and asked for a tour around 17h, but the lady at the cashier pioint told us that the previous days elephants were spotted around this time. So we took our chances and after not even a mile saw some elephants really close by. So it may be worth to ask them when the sightings were in the days before (assuming the weather is similar).

The guide - and driver - will very likely have fairly limited knowledge of the English language. So if you want to converse with them, learn some Thai :P This in part is because local people are hired, to make sure the park is of more valueto them this way than when they would poach the animals. Our guide was extremely good at spotting elephants and other bigger animals.

If you do not see any animals you could even do another tour a bit later in the day - I may have mentioned that I think that even for foreigners who pay abit more I think this is still dead cheap? :)

As others have mentioned, you spend some time - we took about 2 hours - in the back of a pickup truck, standing, or sitting on the benches. It's good to bring some gear to protect you from the sun. At the start there is a small shop with a lady selling small bottles, so you might also get some water etc there.

All in all a great experience which is worth the trip.

If you have your own transport you can follow Google maps to the Elephant Observatory - not the other park reference - and when coming closer just follow the signs wildlife watching. You can book a complette tour, but you can also just drive up. I get the impression there is always ample room for a...