817. Koh Samui Part 4 | Elephant Sanctuary

For many years, a popular tourism activity here in Thailand is elephant trekking/riding. In the not so distant past, people became more and more aware that this is in fact animal cruelty. The elephants kept in captivity are treated very poorly with their spirits broken in order to obey and remain submissive. Owners would often beat them, deprive them of sleep and food in order to "break" them. They are also kept in very small cages and not allowed to move much at all unless carrying around a customer. Elephants are not meant to carry humans on their backs as it harms their skin and bones over time. Elephants who have been through that often have lasting damage (both physically and mentally). It is very sad.

Now there are many elephant sanctuaries in Thailand that rescue these elephants. Tourists are now becoming more aware and choosing to visit sanctuaries instead of riding them. The one we visited rescues old and retired elephants (I think their average age was 60 years old!). They must pay a very high fee to the elephant's original owner in order to rescue one though.

It was a very fun and unique experience. I'm pretty sure it was my first time touching an elephant. First we made some food for the elephants (protein balls?), walked around and fed them. It was nice to see them rescued and able to live the final years of their lives much happier and "free". Unfortunately with COVID and the lack of tourists, the sanctuary has been receiving very little funds and unable to provide as much food as they'd like to the elephants. As you can imagine, it costs quite a lot to take care of and feed such large animals. We are visiting Chiang Mai next which is supposed to have the best elephant sanctuaries in the country, so I'm excited to see how they are there as well!



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