If seeing elephants is in your bucket checklist whereas holidaying in Thailand ensure you do it together with your eyes open. Once we spent 5 days in Krabi, we sought out an moral elephant sanctuary. Let me clarify why we selected the expertise we did and the way you are able to do it too.
Watching elephants within the wild was one of many highlights our two weeks in Sri Lanka. This, and seeing them confined in zoos again within the UK, completely put me off extra touristy experiences, significantly sanctuaries permitting an excessive amount of human interplay.
Why? Elephants used for leisure and logging have been brutally conditioned to be submissive. Discover out extra about ‘The Crush’ course of. Whereas it’d seem like they’re having fun with a cuddle, they solely tolerate it as a result of they imagine they are going to be punished in the event that they don’t.
Training over leisure
Earlier than we booked the Krabi stage of our island hopping vacation by way of Malaysia and Thailand I’d observed that there have been elephant sanctuaries within the space. ‘Keep away from’ screamed my mind. One of many resorts I checked out reserving had a sanctuary proper subsequent door and I knew that will make our women need to go to.
My battle was that I additionally needed to see elephants, however in the correct approach.
So I Googled ‘moral elephant sanctuaries in Krabi’ and got here up with one supported by World Animal Safety.
Following Giants’ Krabi sanctuary is a 80 acre park the place training is obtainable fairly than leisure. All of the animals been rescued from performing for vacationers and the logging trade. Rescue includes the sanctuary shopping for them from their house owners – they’re not often deserted as they’re so invaluable. So rescuing elephants prices tens of hundreds of kilos earlier than they even attain the sanctuary.
There have been seven elephants at Following Giants Krabi after we visited in April 2025. The quantity has now doubled.
What makes this elephant sanctuary moral?
There’s no touching at Following Giants. You can’t feed the elephants, bathe with them and there’s undoubtedly no driving. We heard how all of those actions are performed in opposition to the elephants’ will and, within the case of driving, causes them ache and spinal injury.
As an alternative guests go on a foot safari to see the giants roaming freely, holding a secure and respectful distance.
Our day at Following Giants in Krabi
We have been picked up by mini bus at 7.30am and after just a few stops at neighbouring lodges we arrived on the sanctuary an hour later for welly boot becoming and an introductory movie.
Following Giants, which was based in neighbouring Koh Lanta, was as soon as an unethical sanctuary providing all of the issues that vacationers craved for his or her social media feeds. They don’t draw back from this.
However a partnership shaped with World Animal Safety in 2017 modified that. The founder was already doing one thing a bit totally different; providing guests the chance to study in regards to the relationship between the elephants and their mahouts – the particular person closest to them. This alone didn’t usher in sufficient cash to maintain the sanctuary, however the charity supported it to make the total transition to moral experiences.
The second Following Giants sanctuary, which we visited in Thapom Klong Music Nam in Krabi, opened in 2024.
Protected elephants, free to roam
Our introduction included a security briefing. Elephants listed below are unshackled and free to roam. The one folks allowed to the touch or restrain them are their mahouts who wander the sanctuary with them whereas they graze for 18 to twenty hours a day. They don’t seem to be there to make the elephants carry out, however for guests’ safety.
You’ll be able to examine every elephant’s historical past on the Following Giants web site. They’ve all been mistreated and have been recognized to carry a grudge in opposition to people. This is the reason you will need to keep together with your information and comply with their directions all through your go to.
All pictures should be taken at a distance, however you’ll be able to nonetheless seize fantastic reminiscences.
The one time the elephants are contained is at night time when they’re placed on a sequence with a 20m space wherein to forage for midnight snacks. They’re additionally given a pile of sugar cane. In the event that they actually needed to seek out different twilight snacks they might break their chains.
There’s no assure that you will note the elephants throughout your guided tour however we noticed six out of the seven residents whereas trekking by way of the jungle and plantations.
Lunch and elective additional actions
After quietly observing the elephants and exploring a small a part of the sanctuary, we went to a restaurant overlooking a cleared space with mud swimming pools.
Right here we had a watermelon smoothie and tried domestically grown bananas. It wasn’t lengthy earlier than Marigold, a 29-year-old rescued in 2024, walked throughout the clearing and spherical to the restaurant entrance asking for her personal snack. Her mahout took just a few bunches of bananas and walked her away to eat them.
We made seed balls and catapulted some ready-made ones into the clearing to create new crops for the elephants to eat.
Subsequent was essentially the most scrumptious home-cooked Thai lunch of rice, candy and bitter greens, fried rooster and tempura greens, adopted by fruit and ice cream. We have been stuffed.
Lunch is the tip level for company who’ve booked a half day tour. We stayed on for the afternoon, making elephant poo paper and going kayaking.
The Following Giants staff took us a brief solution to Thapom Klong Music Nam the place we went on a kayak tour by way of the salt water mangroves which can be the breeding floor for barracuda. On the furthest level was a contemporary water stream and waterfall the place we had a swim earlier than altering for our mini bus trip again to Ao Nang.
Our afternoon was very unhurried and in a quieter a part of Krabi. It felt like an excellent addition for individuals who need to take pleasure in an additional out of doors exercise after seeing there sanctuary. After all if this isn’t your factor there are two different shorter programmes that focus extra on the elephants.