Samui Elephant Kingdom Sanctuary — Attraction in Surat Thani Province

As a couple we booked our morning visit through The Samui Elephant Kingdom's Website. This was very easy to do and chose to pay cash on our arrival. We were collected by a very friendly driver from our hotel just after 08.00 - the vehicle was immaculately clean and the air-condition was very good. The driver did two more brief stops at other hotels for 7 more people. During the journey it was enjoyable to look out the window and see other places and vistas. On arrival at the Kingdom, we had a friendly greeting from all members of staff. The payment process was very easy no hold ups. The brief talk about the Kingdom was held in an airy area which had plenty of overhead cover from the Sun. We opted to take a bottle of water each from the hot and cold refreshments offered and to forego the snack. I thought how nice that more than water was offered for visitors of our group. Unusually the morning of our visit 50-60 people had booked (I was told the usual figure is usually 10) but this was handled exceptionally well. Tour guides split the large group of paying guests, into 4 smaller groups and our guide 'Ing' (who spoke exceptionally good English ) did a fantastic job of explaining the different personalities of the each Elephant; the roles of the Mahmoots, men who literally live alongside their Elephants 24/7. The amount of food and water that is needed for these beautiful animals and all questions asked are answered well.

We made food balls for the Elephants and then with the Mahmoot present were able to feed any Elephant whilst they stood behind safety bars. This was really to ensure the Elephants felt safe and relaxed with a new batch of people - also it allowed us humans the opportunity to realise how lucky we were to be able to be so close to these amazing animals. The skywalk was next - walking along it I felt very secure as it is built well and everything is secure and further nets are in place where necessary ...I thought this was a good thing if young children visited with parents. We fed from our baskets entwined leaves and bananas... cheeky Elephants were seen to hide the odd banana under their trunk and look to you for another banana....they love their bananas!!! After the Skywalk we met the two younger male Elephants....kept separate from the females for now for obvious reasons. All our questions were again answered and we were able to feed these two guys their bananas with the Mahmoot present Then as a group we entered the area with the female Elephants and their Mahmoot .....we were able to quietly and gently touch them if we wished to do so. It was such a fantastic experience. After our meeting with the Elephants, we were invited to an airy/fanned tabled building where we could choose our lunch - Thai food (delicious), chicken nuggets and fries and fruit. Cold refreshments from the chiller cabinet - all included with the price of our ticket.

There is a cafe and a small souvenir area within the cafe with 100% of the proceeds from the gift purchase going towards the upkeep of the Elephant Kingdom.

After lunch we were all taken back to our hotels by the same driver and in the same vehicle.

If you are considering visiting then do make a choice to visit you will not be disappointed in the work that is being done for these...

We booked directly through the website and paid for a private tour. We were collected from our hotel in a plush air conditioned minivan and taken to the sanctuary, where upon getting out of the vehicle we were met by Tanya, our guide for the day. The sanctuary has 16 rescued elephants (13 females and 3 males) from Thai circuses, roadside elephant rides and the tree logging industry. They now roam free from chains in a spacious enclosure with watering holes and a beautiful forest to explore with their mahouts. Our first stop was an educational video explaining about the sanctuaries mission and the plight of the Asian and Indian elephants in Thailand. Next stop was to meet the girls from the food preparation area. It was so amazing walking in and seeing many big elephants in front of us waiting for food. Tanya introduced us to some of the girls and then talked us through the food prep we were about to do - power balls! Which consisted of elephant pellets, banana, tamarind, sea salt, ground up husk powder and water. We mixed it together with our hands, and then shaped it into 7 balls to hand feed to the elephants. Their trunks were everywhere, some of them waited patiently, while others tried to grab each one, so it was a bit of an effort to ensure each elephant got a ball. But an incredible experience. Next we moved onto their newly constructed 400m elevated walkway so we could walk throughout the grounds and observe the elephants from an elevated position. This was amazing as we could see them playing in mud and in the water, foraging in the grass and those big long trunks could just reach us arms stretched out to provide a few more treats that Tanya provided us - sugar cane, banana and a bundle of leaves. From this elevated position we got to see the 3 male elephants, 2 of them are housed together as they are brothers and 1 kept separate as very dominant. Tanya explained they do introduce the males into the females each day for a short period, then the males are turned out into the forest at night with their mahouts. The final part of our elephant tour was to walk into the paddock to be up close with the elephants, as the huge gates opened and we stepped through, there were the 13 female elephants all together with their mahouts waiting for us. It was a surreal experience to be that close to so many elephants, yet feel extremely calm and not frightened. There are 2 young females in the herd who like to cuddle and kiss, so we both got pulled into them by their huge powerful trunks; you just had to go with it, with their trunk wrapped around you there was little choice; but what an exhilarating experience. After many many photos and lots more cuddles, we left the elephants and it was our turn for feeding. We had a delicious vegetarian Pad Thai and vegetable spring rolls. Very yummy. Then after a quick visit to the gift shop our transportation arrived to return us to the hotel. This was a magical experience and we would highly recommend this sanctuary to anyone looking for an ethical, non-riding, non-bathing elephant...

We went to the elephant sanctuary on the 25th of March. The trip was split into multiple steps and I will shortly explain the different stops: first we watched the advertisement for the sanctuary that praised how well the elephants have it there. Next we made energy balls which we then fed to the elephants. Constantly on our side was our guide who offered to take photos at multiple opportunities. The energy balls were taken by the elephants out of our hands over a small double wood fence. The guides kept on reminding us "no food, no friends". It felt weird to us at the elephants immediately walked towards us to eat the energy balls which made us question if they get enough food otherwise. Next step was a skywalk over the the enclosure. With the skywalk everyone had a basket full of food which we could also offer to the elephants beneath us. Again most of them were eager to get to the food. The most elephants there are female, they are the ones kept in the larger enclosure which the skywalk is above. However for the amount of elephants this enclosure felt small to us. From the skywalk we could also view the few male elephants further away which each have their own enclosure because they get "naughty" and fight when being held together with other elephants. One of the male elephant showed concerning behavior, constantly standing on one point and nodding his head. The guide called it "dancing". The last step was us, the visitors, going into the enclosure of the elephants. While the other interaction with the elephants already felt questionable to us, intruding into their safe-zone, where they are presented to us, standing in half circles, each one next to their respective keeper, while being fed to play nice with us. At one point before the guide told us that shaking their ears is a sign of happiness for the elephant. So you can imaging that it's not calming to observe a keeper grabbing the ear of an elephant, shaking it and as soon as the elephant then did that herself the keeper rewarded her with snacks. Inside of the enclosure in general every interaction with the tourist group was rewarded with snacks, grabbing them with the trunk, making a sound, letting the people pet them and so on. We are well aware that this is most likely a lot better than the amusement centers where the elephants were before but this is sadly also not what we would call a sanctuary, as these elephants are not able to life in natural dynamics. While they are not punished for not interacting with humans they are now rewarded for these unnatural interactions with humans. This is not what we consider a sanctuary or a safe haven for these georgous animals, as new people every day are allowed into their safe zone, their enclosure. I want to appeal that this is not the kind of sanctuary that should be supported, as there are others that do not allow interactions with humans at all. Please do your research to support sanctuaries that do...