Elephants Thailand
A first impression of The Ethical Elephant Experience – in 3 minutes.
Ethical Elephant Encounter Thailand
Many of the elephants at Elephant Hills were working in the logging industry before it was banned in Thailand in 1989. With elephants consuming up to 200kg of food every day, new ways of supporting these extraordinary animals had to be found, and many transitioned into the tourism industry. Read more about elephants in Thailand.
In 2010, Elephant Hills made the decision to stop elephant riding entirely. Carrying tourists on their backs is not a natural behaviour for elephants, and we wanted to offer something far more meaningful. The result is our Ethical Elephant Experience, an award-winning concept that has set the standard for responsible elephant tourism in Thailand.
As part of every tour package, guests spend time with our elephants in their natural environment. You will help our team prepare their daily feed, which the elephants then enjoy at their own pace at feeding stations within their free-roaming habitat. You will also have the chance to watch them bathe and play in their mud pool, and observe them as they roam, graze, and interact freely in their expansive natural habitat.
This is elephant tourism as it should be: respectful, natural, and genuinely unforgettable.
Meet Elephants Thailand
The Ethical Elephant Experience has been recognised with some of the most prestigious awards in sustainable and responsible tourism.
For animal welfare, Elephant Hills has received the Responsible Thailand Award for Animal Welfare in both 2024 and 2025, and has been independently audited by Global Spirit, Animals in Tourism, achieving a 100% rating – the first animal attraction anywhere in the world to reach this score within the two-week audit period. We have also received a perfect 5-star score across all 17 criteria in the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s Sustainable Tourism Acceleration Rating (STAR) for two years in a row.
In 2016, National Geographic Traveler named Elephant Hills as Asia’s only finalist in its prestigious World Legacy Awards in the category “Conserving the Natural World”.
For luxury and guest experience, Elephant Hills has won Asia’s Leading Luxury Camping Company at the World Travel Awards five consecutive times, and was named Best Sustainable Tourism Destination in Asia at the World Luxury Travel Awards 2023.
We are proud of this recognition and remain committed to continually raising the bar for ethical elephant tourism across Thailand. You can view our full list of awards here.
