Elephant tourism has been a huge part of tourism in many Asian countries, especially so in Thailand. Particularly once the Southeast Asian country banned logging in 1989 to protect its forests, countless working elephants and their mahouts (carers and owners) found themselves unemployed. With domesticated elephants being extremely expensive to take care of and ill-suited to be returned to the wild, this presented a problem.
The solution was found very quickly, however – elephant tourism. Elephant riding, bathing, elephant shows and tricks, elephant painting, elephant feeding, safaris, and many other elephant-related attractions immediately popped up all over Thailand. Not all of those are exactly ethical, however, and many are outright harmful to the animals.
This, in turn, has brought up the question of ethical elephant tourism – what is it, how it should be practiced, and how can tourists be guided toward more ethical types of elephant attractions? Let’s examine these and other questions below.
What Is And What Isn’t Ethical Elephant Tourism?
Unfortunately, many of the types of elephant tourism people are used to or come to Southeast Asia for aren’t ethical and can be quite damaging to the animals. This is despite them appearing quite ok and being marketed and presented as “ethical” by the mahouts and operators of such tourist attractions.
The ways in which an elephant tourist attraction can be unethical are quite a few:
It Requires Harsh Training
Any type of elephant tourist attraction that has the animals do things that aren’t “natural” for them involves unnatural and harsh training practices. Whether it’s elephant drawing, riding, or even just elephant petting and bathing, for the mahouts to make sure the elephants not only know how to do these things but do so safely around strangers, they need to harshly train their animals from the earliest possible age. Such training involves punishing the elephant with chains and teaching it not to react through a process called “the crush” by animal protection organizations.
It Causes Stress
Many unethical elephant tourist attractions cause stress to even trained adult elephants. Being ridden by several strangers across a river is understandably stressful and so is being separated by your mother for most of the day as a baby elephant, so strangers can pet you, take pictures with you, and laugh and scream around you. All this can be not only stressful but also harmful for the animals.
It Can Be Physically Harmful
Elephant bathing is marketed as a joyful and healthy activity by many tourist attractions, but it's crucial to recognize the true needs of elephants, particularly in hot regions like Thailand.
It's true that in exceptionally hot weather, elephants may decide to bathe more regularly on their own, even if the article emphasizes that wild elephants don't normally bathe two to three times a day. This is their innate method of dealing with the heat, not for amusement.
Unlike humans, elephants are unable to perspire through their skin. Rather, they use water or mud to reduce their body temperature and expel heat through places like their toe pads. Mahouts may help an elephant bathe in extreme heat, but only if the elephant makes a signal—such as approaching water or asking for assistance.
Therefore, if an elephant at a sanctuary takes multiple daily baths, it's not for show; rather, it's a response to the weather and the elephant's request to ensure their physical comfort and wellbeing.
In a similar vain, many tourist attractions that involve elephant feeding use unhealthy foods that elephants shouldn’t eat, especially not in large quantities. This effectively means people are “junk-feeding” elephants for their amusement.
It Can Be Dangerous for the Tourists
Needless to say, if an elephant snaps out of stress or physical discomfort, people around the animal can be in a lot of danger. There are hundreds of elephant-related fatalities every year (albeit not only in the tourist industry) and thousands of injuries.
As you can see, elephant tourism can have a “dark side” that needs to be acknowledged. And, even though people have been talking about it for years, unethical elephant tourism attractions still exist and are visited by millions of tourists every year.
Fortunately, there are alternatives too, in the form of ethical elephant tourism activities, such as safaris and elephant sanctuaries. Such places allow for tourists to visit elephants in their natural habitat in a manner that’s safe for both them and the animals.
What’s more, such ethical elephant observation is much more authentic, as it allows tourists to see the real side and life of elephants and not trained and tortured animals that have been taught to perform circus tricks.
Besides, visiting an elephant sanctuary doesn’t mean hands-off observation, as tourists can feed the elephants too, provided they only feed them healthy food meant for elephants and only do give the food to the elephants’ trunks and not into their mouths.
Why Observation Matters and Hands-Off Experiences Are the Future of Ethical Elephant Tourism?
Naturally, the vast majority of people who go to unethical elephant attractions, such as elephant bathing or riding, don’t do so because they are cruel and want to harm these beautiful animals. In fact, most people who visit elephant tourist attractions do so because they are animal lovers, but have simply been misinformed about what is and isn’t good for elephants.
As it becomes more and more well-known how harmful certain activities are for elephants, however, tourists themselves are starting to flock toward ethical elephant sanctuaries and safaris. This turn of the tide is slow and will likely take years and even decades. However, the more informed tourists get, the more popular ethical elephant tourism becomes.
Additionally, with there being more domesticated elephants in Thailand than wild ones, and with domesticated elephants being unable to safely return to the wild, ethical elephant sanctuaries present the best viable way to slowly transition elephants back into the forests of Thailand while still keeping the elephant tourism niche flourishing.
How the Krabi Roaming Elephant Sanctuary Prioritizes Elephant Well-Being
One of the most famous and fast-growing ethical elephant tourist attractions in Thailand today is the Krabi Roaming Elephant Sanctuary(ROM). This sanctuary prioritizes the well-being of elephants while offering visitors a meaningful, non-intrusive way to connect with these gentle giants.
ROM's team assists visitors in viewing elephants as they exist in their human natural habitat. to the most natural as much as we cold so we can take care of them closely for the greatest of living condition of the elephants since they grown up with human and never been in the actual wild before., allows them to safely observe and feed elephants in a healthy way, teaches them everything they need to know about elephants and how to interact with them, and gives them a holistic experience that is as pleasant, beneficial, and memorable for both the tourists and the elephants themselves.
Book Your Experience @Krabi Roaming Elephant Sanctuary
Krabi Roaming Elephant Sanctuary offers a rare chance to witness elephants in their most natural and peaceful state. Whether you choose the Half-Day Highlights Program or the Mini Moments Experience, your visit will be a memorable and meaningful one.
Limited spots are available to maintain a calm and respectful environment for the elephants, so be sure to book in advance:
- Phone: (+66) 080-082-6621
- Email: reservation@k-roaming.com
- Book directly at krabi-roamingelephantsanctuary.co/
