Thalang, Thailand
10/13 Moo. 3, T. Paklok,
N/A
I don’t often bother with reviews, but my experience at Elephant Park far exceeded my expectations. The staff genuinely care for the elephants and want to change elephant tourism for the better. Feeding and walking with the elephants is amazing. The included food and transport made the half day well worth the money.
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Visiting Phuket Elephant Park was a dream come true for me. They are a wonderful organization that rescues Elephants, and gives them a new life of leisure. The elephants are very sweet, and you will bond with them for sure. This is a place you must visit while in Phuket
Great half day tour to see and feed rescued elephants. You can tell that the staff really care for their elephants and want them to live long, happy and low stress lives. Easy pick up and return to hotel in air-conditioned van. I hope they can rescue many more of these awesome creatures.
Feeding the elephants is an up-close and personal experience I will never forget! The staff genuinely cares about all elephants and are eager to share their knowledge and passion. Please consider visiting this park and their sister sanctuary, and do not patron businesses that force elephants to give rides, bathe, or do trekking activities.
Just been to Phuket Elephant Park. My wife and I chose this out of the many other elephant parks from other reviews (although there arent many, but soon hope alot more will leave excellent reviews later) The camp manager Phongsak Phalaphol was very warm and welcoming and you can tell he sincerely cares about his elephants. He told us a bit about himself his involvement in the industry and how he would like to change it for the better. A presentation of how the elephants where treated with the use of hooks in the tourist/entertainment/logging industries. For what I could see there was no ill treatment of the elephants and the mahouts guided the elephants with the persuasion of fruit only. We where introduced to all the elephants and given their names and their backgrounds. Getting to feed them was a treat, as I'm site it was for the elephants too. No tugging by the ears or prodding/pushing. (We were the ones told to move back out of the way if the elephant wanted to move and we were to follow) All the other guides and mahouts were very nice and not to mention the full vegetarian/vegan welcome treats and lunch. I hope to see this park prosper in the future and help many more elephants. Highly recommend and will visit again if we are ever back to Phuket.
Please, if you are in Phuket and thinking of seeing/ learning about these be beautiful creatures, I cannot recommend Phuket Elephant Park enough!! Me and my partner visited PEP last Wednesday (23rd October 2019) whilst visiting Phuket. We had done extensive research to make sure our money was going to the right place for the beautiful animals. We ALMOST gave up hope of finding a legitimate sanctuary/ park that cares for elephants the way they should be cared for, I'm so glad we didn’t give up! A friend of mine had recommended Phuket Elephant Park and, like all the places I had looked at, I had my reservations, especially as there are SO many places in Thailand/ Phuket claiming to offer a safe haven for elephants, the name ‘sanctuary’ we believe has been tarnished by some that have a huge tourist incentive and are not 100% what they claim to be. PEP however is not one of those places. Currently they have rescued 4 older elephants (aged between 48 and 70!) and offer a place for them to retire peacefully after whatever they have all gone through to entertain people. We were given a presentation by one of the founders and then shown a video, explaining all too often what elephants go through to entertain and to ensure they are safe around people, even now, remembering what we were told/ shown, I have a lump in my throat! I am a HUGE elephant lover and this experience is one I will never forget!! Please, keep doing what you’re doing! Myself and my partner sincerely hope you can grow and rescue more elephants! Thank you so much!
A REAL sanctuary where their rescued elephants can enjoy the remainder of their lives doing whatever they want. No chains. No riding. No bathing. No sticks or hooks. Just gentle love and lots of food. The elephants and their keepers form a loving bond. Their keepers care for them 24 hours a day feeding them bananas and pineapples. We got to hand feed them at the elephant's leisure, then follow them as they roamed around eating plants. The staff are wonderful and very informative. Told us about their story, how the park came to be and each elephant's story. Cooked us up a delicious vegetarian banquet, that even meat eaters would enjoy! I can't wait to go back and see how Deelert, Srinuan, Boonsib and hopefully more rescued elephants are going in their final home. Absolutely incredible experience that brought me to tears.
My 11 year old daughter has written a book, Ellie’s Elephants, in effort to raise awareness about the elephant tourism industry (riding, bathing, chain-free, hooks, etc), while donating the money raised back into ethical organizations. As part of her mission, she is visiting places claiming to be ethical, and informing others. We visited Phuket Elephant Park today (who work closely with Phuket Elephant Sanctuary to build their knowledge and expertise), and while small and in the beginning stages, it IS doing the right thing. Starting out is hard and requires a lot of money. While owner, Dr. Sutthi has funded the beginnings and has fully purchased the 4 elephants currently on site (meaning they’ll never work or entertain again), continual funds are needed for Phongsak, the manager, to maintain this free life for the elephants with food, enclosures, mahouts, land and more. Saving elephants is not cheap, but rescuing them is at the heart of this organization. They are also looking to build a 4th enclosure and finish the hydrotherapy pool. Your visits will help with this. Support this place, as you know that they have the elephants hearts in their own. .
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