Our Thailand Elephant Experience Was Magical… But Is It Ethical?

Oh yeah, look at those beautiful elephants. Baby needs mud too. One time in the mud bath. They're beautiful. So beautiful. Sawadee krap my friends. Today we are just outside Chiang Mai at the Elephant Jungle Sanctuary, one of the most popular elephant experiences here in Thailand. And this is Ann's first time interacting with elephants like this. What do you think? I'm so nervous. I feel like, you know, I feel like they're gonna like do something. Like eat you? Not really, but they are big. They're huge. They are huge and you are pretty tiny, but don't worry, they're vegetarians. Elephants are one of the most beautiful symbols of Thailand. They helped to build the kingdom and they're still deeply part of the Thai culture. But their history here hasn't always been such a good one. And lots of people come to places like this because they feel like you're doing something good. There's no riding, there's no shows, just feeding time with these gentle giants and hopefully a little bathing down in the river. Yeah, I'm excited for that. But I guess the real question is, is it actually ethical? Or is it just a repackaging of the other kind of elephant tourism? So today we're going to find out. Let's go meet the elephants. Let's do it. One at a time. Okay, relax. And these amazing trunks have over 10,000 muscles in them. Our entire human body only has 600 and they can do so much and they're just so beautiful. Wow, he's huge. Where are you going? Going the other side. They even have a little one and a half year old baby here. Let's go meet him. Nice to meet you. 1.5. But I guess if you live to be 100, that's not that much. So cute. I know. Baby elephants. Yeah, and the hair is pointing up like a needle. One glass for the baby. I'm just kidding. So beautiful. Itch it, scratch it, get it. Yeah. What beautiful creatures. I absolutely love elephants and they have amazing memories so they can also remember how they've been treated for years and years in the future. And that's why places like this are very important. And most of these elephants have actually been rescued from things like the logging industry and or not so ideal conditions where they were being forced to perform like a circus act. So while it would be ideal for elephants to be able to be free in Thailand, they destroy farms, they can cause car accidents and even hurt people. So places like this are so important because tourists that are coming here are spending money, which allows them to eat and they eat a lot of food. They eat between 18 and 20 hours a day. So three days a week they prepare these elephant balls for them. They include lots of different vegetables and vitamins because sometimes the elephants can't get all of the nutrients they need because they're not completely roaming freely. So this is something that helps to keep their stomach healthy. We collected everything and then mashed it up in this little masher. And now we're making it into balls that we're going to feed to the elephant. And now what are we doing? We're going All right, one down. Now get the baby. I was wondering, does it taste good? And one for you too. Okay, you got it. Okay, you're elephantly happy. How did that feel? Feels good. It feels good to feed them and make their food. It does, doesn't it? And now we're going to head down to the water to do some elephant bathing. Are you excited? Oh yeah, look at those beautiful elephants. I'm gonna go over to the elephant over there. Oh baby, the water's so nice and cold. Yes. So what do you think? I love this. It's so amazing to be down here in the water with the elephants. This is a great experience. Definitely try it out. I feel like they want me to take a shower. Looks like the elephants are done with their bath. Nice work. Very good, thank you. Good job, good job. So much fun. So much fun. I feel like they are still celebrating the songkran. They're definitely still celebrating the songkran. Now we head to the mud bath. And something that's really great about the sanctuary is that it's not like a set time schedule. The elephants decide when they're going to go in the water, they decide when they're done, they decide when they're going to go in the mud bath. So it really gives them that freedom. And elephants typically use mud or dirt as a natural sunscreen because their skin is sensitive, just like ours. So while they don't need us to do this, I think that they actually do enjoy it just a bit. Let's get in there and get muddy. It's your first elephant mud bath. Don't forget his bum. He needs it down on the bum too. You don't want bum burn. Nice work. And it looks like everybody forgot about the baby. He needs mud too. Oh yeah. Baby needs mud too. Yes. One time in the mud bath. Hey. Hey. Guess we're done with the mud bath. Thank you very much. It is so refreshing. And we're just rinsing off after our mud bath with the elephants because we were pretty dirty. Very dirty. Did you have a good time? Oh yes, I do. It's so nice to paint them because I was like putting them in mud and like painting. And then people are throwing mud as well. And lots of water, lots of laughter. Such an amazing experience to be able to be so close to these animals. And right now we're going to head up and grab some lunch. And then we will talk about this place, elephant tourism, and if this is ethical and how you can do better. Well, that was a delicious lunch. And as you can see, our little elephant friends couldn't get enough of the mud. So they're back down there mudding themselves. And Anne was just asking if they can do it themselves, why are we doing it for them? And that's actually a great question. Probably something that some of you are thinking at home. And I know that some of you are ready to just start talking about why this is wrong or why elephant tourism is bad. But the truth is, it's not black and white. You know, the reality of our world today is that these beautiful animals can't be wandering around in the wild. And Thailand still has three different kinds of tourism. There is the riding and show tourism, is what we did today, where we got to interact with them in a low impact way, but also get up close and personal with them. And then there is the just viewing type of tourism, we've watched them from a distance. And obviously, that last one is probably the best one. But this one is far more popular because you actually get to interact with the animals. And we were mentioning before how much they eat, and that food needs to get paid for from somewhere, you know, like they need a place to be taken care of, they need to receive medical care if something happens to them. And yes, I know wild elephants don't get that kind of stuff. But these aren't wild elephants. So domestic animals need to be cared for, like a cat or a dog. I'm not comparing them to cats or dogs. But it's the same sort of principle. But I think that Thailand's come so far. You know, when I came here for the first time 25 years ago, all there was was riding and performances and none of I feel like none of us knew any better. But now we do. And being able to participate in stuff like this, helps people to appreciate the animals more and lets us really interact with them and have these beautiful experiences like and for her first time. So tell us what was your impression of the elephants today? It's emotional. You know, seeing them like as a family, there are not many, they're just five. You need to take care. And it's amazing. I mean, they're amazing creatures. I got emotional because there's not much as we can see them. It's true. I feel like the people here really care about the animals like you can see and how they interact with them. You can see how they interact with each other. And it's a really special kind of a thing. You know, the Mahout, the guys that are caring for them, that's usually a generational thing. So when we do tourism like this, we're not just supporting the elephants, we're also supporting these men that care for the elephants and for the local community who have donated the hundred and ten acres that they get to live on. And they were telling us before that the elephants actually go off at night to wherever they want to. They don't sleep with the humans. They just at the end of the day, they wander off. Some sleep by the river, some go up into the top. Oh, look at them going by right now. They have freedom. It's so nice. It's freedom-ish. You know, it's better than a zoo. It's not as ideal as having complete autonomy from people. But, you know, like I said, this is just reality. So it's easy to get angry. It's easy to say this shouldn't be happening. Elephants don't need you to feed them. Elephants don't need you to bathe them or give them mud baths. But these elephants need to be cared for. And by doing stuff that we're doing here today, especially at an ethical one like the Elephant Jungle Sanctuary, you get to experience them, appreciate them, and they get cared for in the process. Yeah, I got to make them food. Isn't that nice? We did get to make them food. It was so nice. It was a different adventure. Absolutely. It was a different adventure for me to share it with you because, you know, like seeing you see it for the first time, it reminded me of my first time seeing an elephant up close like this. And I've been all over Africa where you see big African elephants, but you can't get close like this because you'll be dead. But here, but here, you know, it's just it's a beautiful way to see these majestic creatures. And just be able to share with someone you care about, or even just do it by yourself. And I'm trying to like, mesmerizing them, like, look at them in my own eyes, like, like, I'm living right now. So like, I can have these memories for the rest of my life because we don't have elephants in the Philippines like roaming around. No, no, you definitely don't. And they're just sitting over here right now covered in dirt and mud having a great time. So yeah, whether you agree with it or don't agree with it, that's completely up to you. Please leave a comment down below and, you know, let us know what you think. And if you've had a great elephant experience, please share it with us. And I'm not judging you for whatever kind you choose to have or if you don't choose to have any at all. But I think it's important to at least keep an open mind about these amazing animals and what they actually need to survive in today's world. Anything else you'd like to add? 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