Where to Ride an Elephant in Thailand?

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Where to Ride an Elephant in Thailand?
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Elephants are an important part of Thai culture.
Elephant Trip Thailand itself has more than 70
elephant camps, most located in the north. Youll
soon find that every guesthouse, travel agent,
and tuk-tuk driver seems to be peddling a
different elephant experience. Not all elephant
camps are equal! With so many elephant camps all
around, it can be hard to choose one, but we hope
our brief info below can help you out.
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If you have a chance to travel throughout the
country, the best places where you can interact
with elephants will be in the north of Thailand
Chiang Mai, Kanchanaburi, Sukhothai or Surin
provinces.Here, you not only can ride an
elephant, but become a mahout for a couple of
days or spend a week or more as a volunteer.
Several organizations based here focus their
efforts on helping save Asian elephants. If you
are looking for deeper interaction or want to
support these gentle Asian giants, these are
places to go.
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Ethical Elephant Trekking Rules
The biggest red flag is if a camp does an
elephant show. Avoid any circus-like shows or
places where the elephants are made to play
soccer or dance on two legs, as these activities
can be pretty bad for the elephants physical and
mental health.
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• Make sure to check into what happens to the
  elephants after the elephant camp closes for the
  day. Are they able to interact with one another
  and keep up on their social skills freely, or are
  they chained and penned up all night?
• Try to find a camp where you can ride bareback
  by yourself, which is better for the elephants.
  It is not always possible, especially in southern
  Thailand, but keep it in mind. And at least ride
  the elephant with bare feet. We also should
  mention that it is always possible to sit alone
  on elephants back, which again is better for
  elephants health. But unfortunately, to do this
  in most of the camps, you have to pay for
  yourself and the cost of a second passenger.

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We understand that it is difficult to check
before you take an elephant tour. But following
these simple rules will make your elephant ride
less harmful for animals wherever you do it in
Elephants of Thailand. Just use these tips when
it is possible, and enjoy your vacation!
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From our side, we are proud to say that all
elephant camps we (http//handsupholidays.com/)
cooperate with in Phuket dont perform any
elephant shows. And the elephants after work
time is as close to their natural environment as
possible.