How to See Elephants in Phuket (with a Preschooler!)

This post is not sponsored: just an honest review of my experience.

It’s hard to think about Thailand without elephants coming to mind. In fact, it’s the official animal of Thailand. Thailand has a long and complex history with elephants: as transportation, entertainment, use in war, symbolism for royals, and manual labor (specifically in the logging industry).

Some basic elephant facts:

There are 2 species of elephant; the African elephant and Asian elephant.

African elephant (on the left; Image by Michael Siebert from Pixabay)

Asian elephant (on the right; Image by Dominique from Pixabay)

Thai elephants are (unsurprisingly) Asian elephants, and under the subspecies of Indian elephant.

thanks, wikipedia!

You can tell that many Thai people and visiting tourists have a deep love for, and connection to, elephants. In recent years, though, there’s been a lot of critiques and questions raised concerning how ethical the treatment is of these intelligent animals.

As we planned our trip to Phuket, I knew that it would be fun to see elephants somehow. I’d read and heard enough to know I’d need to be a bit picky with the search. I didn’t want to inadvertently support a business that seemed decent on the outside but is actually taking major shortcuts- or worse- intentionally hurting or neglecting animals.

I won’t pretend to be an expert on the topic of ethical treatment of elephants, and I also know that research & new ideas on this topic have disseminated rapidly over the past few years, changing the tourism “rules” and norms. I’ll share here the information that we learned from conversing with the elephant rescuers & caretakers, and from interacting with the amazing, giant creatures themselves.

I ultimately chose the Phuket Elephant Sanctuary: the first ethical sanctuary for elephants of its kind in Phuket, Thailand. We booked the morning program (9:30 am- 1 pm) about 4 months before our November trip. I’m sure there’d be spaces available for quite some time, but I wanted to secure an AM slot on the day that worked best in our itinerary.

How Baby, Toddler, or Kid-Friendly??

Unsure what the conditions would be like on this (relatively long) tour, we opted to keep our 18 month old back at the hotel with Dad. I brought our older son (who was days away from turning 4). I think it was the right call. The website says all ages are welcome, for the record, which is helpful to know.

Here are some things to consider:

1. The jeep ride out to the jungle was definitely not carseat (or seatbelt ha!) friendly.

2. There was a decent amount of waiting and sitting on the front end of the tour. Not in a boring way! My toddler just isn’t the type to sit still or quietly for more than… approximately 12 seconds, so it would’ve been lots of chasing.

3. There were some high ledges and ravines filled with deep water that a curious, active toddler could be drawn to for much of the tour.

There was another preschooler on the tour, as well as several older children. I didn’t see any babies, but I bet a babe in a backpack or carrier would do just fine tour-wise, depending of course on your comfort level in the vehicles.

Logistics Time: A van for the company picked us up from our hotel in the morning. The van drove us to a small building with a lobby where we signed in and got our stickers (pictured above) and were soon ushered into an open-air jeep. That took us to the Phuket Elephant Sanctuary (near the eastern coast of Phuket).

Upon Arrival

The welcome area was lovely; so much beautiful vegetation, and well-kept grounds. It was all open-air. There were ceiling fans and various drinks to keep cool; and fruit & granola bars available to fuel up on. The bathrooms were clean and there was plenty of space to sit down and wait for the tour to begin.

A video gave an overview of the treatment of elephants in Thailand as well as specific information about the sanctuary’s origins and plans for the future.

Warning: There were some parts that were rather graphic and difficult to watch. Entertainers often use bullhooks (rods with a sharp hook at the end), held behind the elephant’s ear, in order to control their behavior and crush their will. I think it was important to see; but just be mentally prepared for that.

When the presentation ended, we all grabbed water bottles, changed into our tall socks and fashionable rubber boots (provided by the sanctuary), and got ready to see some elephants!

Let the Tour Begin

Part 1: Feed the Elephants

These large baskets held bananas (with peels), cucumbers, and sliced watermelon. My son was pretty nervous (I was a little bit, too!) to get close to the elephants and feed them. We could take turns with the others in our red group to walk up close to this bar and hold out one of the fruits or vegetables. The elephants picked them up with their trunks out of our hands. It was very cool! It’s amazing how much they could each eat.

Part 2: Watch the Elephants Bathe

There were two separate times during the tour we saw the elephants bathe. Once at the beginning, and once at the end. At the beginning, the elephants were guided to a large, spacious, concrete …tub, essentially. They splashed around, and we could watch up close.

The second time felt more natural. The elephant’s mahout (see below) led the elephant into the ravine full of muddy water to cool off on a hot day. Neither time were tour guests able to join in the water with the bathing elephants.

This second bathing experience was my favorite part of the tour. The elephant seemed so happy. I remember my son commenting multiple times on how large the animal was, and how it wasn’t fair that HE eats all of his cucumbers and bananas but he doesn’t grow as big as an elephant.

Part 3: Observe the Elephants

A large part of the tour was spent wandering different parts of the grounds, hoping to find where the elephants were spending their time and observing them from a safe (and hopefully respectful) distance. The elephant approached our small shelter (pictured below), and it was pretty surreal to be that close without any sort of fence or barrier between us.

Each elephant on property was female, and a retired or rescued “worker” from one of the various industries. Here they get to roam and explore on their own terms, with the assistance of their mahout.

You can tell how old an Asian elephant is by the amount of pink “freckles” adorning her body. By age 30, many elephants will have developed this pink mark across their trunk and on their ears or legs.

There were several different “color groups”– indicated by the sticker we received upon arrival– within our larger AM tour group. The elephant sanctuary hoped not to overwhelm the elephants by keeping our numbers smaller and spacing out. At this point in the tour two “color groups” had accidentally merged, making quite a crowd. The elephants seemed to be used to people and largely unbothered by our presence. I’m assuming that’s because nearly all of these elephants spent a lifetime working with/near/for humans prior to their time at the sanctuary.

Lunch Buffet in the Jungle

When I signed up for the tour I had no idea that the lunch buffet would be served in such an amazing location. Many people ate under the shelter with rows of tables, but there were a few private bungalow treehouses (??) off to the side. One was available and I was so excited to eat in one of them. I’ll never forget this mommy-son lunch date!

The buffet itself was all vegetarian, and delicious! My son’s favorite food at the time was tofu, so we were all about this. There were fruit juices, noodle dishes, vegetables, rice, and more.

After the lunch, we all headed back into the jeeps and from there back into vans that took us back to our respective hotels.

Concluding Thoughts

My son and I had a lot of fun on this tour. I was overall very happy and impressed with the organization, thought, and effort that goes into taking care of these retired female elephants at the Phuket Elephant Sanctuary.

Did you see elephants while visiting Thailand? What was your experience like?? Any good elephant facts?

Let us know in the comments below!

Want to read more about our time in Phuket?

Thai Cooking Class Review: Phuket, Thailand

Phuket, Thailand: An overview and review for young families