Animal Abuse at ElephantsWorld in Kanchanaburi, Thailand – Don’t Volunteer Here
This review is from a girl I know who didn’t want her name to be public, but what she witnessed was awful, and this needs to be addressed.
I wanted to share my experience volunteering at ElephantsWorld in Kanchanaburi, Thailand, in hopes that no one will go there when visiting Thailand. Please be sure to do all your research when visiting anything involving animal tourism. This place has fantastic Trip Advisor reviews, and caught all us volunteers by surprise. If you’re interested, the following is the review I posted on their facebook page. DO NOT SUPPORT ELEPHANTS WORLD!!!
I just completed 30 days of volunteering at ElephantsWorld and I struggle to find the words to describe my experience. This is NOT a sanctuary. It is NOT nonprofit (as it says on all the brochures and website). I beg you NOT to spend your money and come here, it will only contribute to the current construction of a spa as well as the purchasing of more elephants- when the ones already here are not taken care of. I should also mention that about half the elephants here are paid for monthly and rented, not donated, in order to maintain the heavy flow of tourism this business gets. This review is directed only at the owner, Mr. Samart, and his wife Fawn, who would both be better suited for the poaching industry. A large group of us volunteers brought up all of the following issues of what happens “behind closed doors” to the two of them in two separate meetings last week, where we offered our concerns accompanied by constructive ideas all directed to improve the welfare and lives of the elephants residing here. After the meeting we were told things would begin to change. The next morning we learned the volunteer program had been cancelled.
There is no maximum amount of people allowed to visit per day. The owner sets a maximum, and when it is reached, he simply increases the maximum limit to accomodate for as many visitors- and as much money- as he can get per day. This means that one volunteer tour guide could have up to 15 people in their group washing ONE elephant at the end of the day. With this many people surrounding one elephant, they get distressed and nervous, as evidenced by them rocking back and forth in the water. If you’re wondering if they are enjoying “bath time” with this many people, take a step back and watch the mahouts with their bullhooks, which are always hooked onto the elephants in the water to force them to stay in. You can even see elephants attempting to get out and the mahouts forcing them to get back in for the tourists to continue washing (they do this, of course, because the Mr. Samart tells them to). To be clear, bathing the elephants is an activity for tourists, not for elephants. They are animals and are more than capable of bathing themselves. They are made to do “tricks” such as spray water at the tourists, something they learned in the past through abuse and submission. Some elephants (even ones that got the most nervous in the water with people) were forced into getting bathed by tourists up to three times a day.
The motto “we work for the elephants, the elephants not for us” couldn’t be more false. These elephants are NOT free, they are on a schedule 364 days a year with up to 150 visitors a day. No, they never get time off nor time to roam around free. Baby elephant Spy has a foot issue that needs to be treated by the vet students (students, because the owner won’t pay for a veterinarian) in healthcare every day. However, if Spy is running behind schedule that day then she skips healthcare, since the owner wants to make sure every visitor gets to be around the baby- the pride and joy of ElephantsWorld. Priorities.
Speaking of babies, let’s talk about Jarunee. She’s an elephant that was away for several weeks during my time at EW. Where was she? She was transported to a city up north to be raped by male elephants, in hopes that she would get pregnant so ElephantsWorld could have a new baby elephant for tourists to gawk at and wash. When that didn’t work, the owner decided to purchase a new tusked male elephant to impregnante another one of the females. I say purchased because this elephant came from a village, not a trekking camp, but apparently it looks “cool” to have an elephant with tusks here. So now he’s breeding into captivity. How’s that for a “sanctuary”?
What’s sad about this purchase is that EW already has another male named Johnny, who is 10 years old, and has gotten increasingly more aggressive over his 6 years at EW (which happens with male elephants- this is a fact and can be expected). Instead of buying Johnny a bullpen to give him the area he needs to move around, they have had him tied to a tree for the last one year- all day and all night. When confronting the owner about Johnny, he says there is no money to give Johnny what he needs, yet he just purchased a new elephant. Where else is your money going? Probably to the SPA and BAR being built at ElephantsWorld- which is apparently more important than the welfare of the elephants.
The day the new male elephant arrived from his village they walked him straight off the truck into the water for my group to wash. They put a MASSIVE tusked elephant in a new environment with a new mahout after a several hour journey straight into the water with visitors. They did NOT know his temperament or how he would react. I’m not sure I’ve ever been so nervous watching this happen or so thankful that luckily nothing did happen. The owner’s wife ordered this of course, and said it’s ok because she heard he was a “nice elephant.” Two days later this elephant nearly killed someone. Another day I was there one of the most violent elephants charged at a group of tourists, had she not been chained to the tree someone could have been killed. There are NO safety standards here, what’s important to the owner is that the visitors are able to see as many elephants as possible during their day there, regardless of the safety of visitors or the welfare of the elephants. There are many elephants during mud bath time that are incredibly violent (one of which ripped someones arm off in the past) and shouldn’t be around people at all. But in the owners eyes- the more the merrier!
Let’s talk about the mahouts, who the owner and his wife treat worse than animals. They are all hardworking refugees who put their lives on the line everyday with these unpredictable animals. They are paid next to nothing, lower than thai minimum wage, with not enough money to afford food or basic life necessities. The owner recently took their kitchen away and they are not even allowed to drink the WATER at ElephantsWorld like the rest of us. What happens to all the leftover food from the buffet-style lunch and dinners you ask? It gets fed to the dogs.
I urge you to please spend/donate your money elsewhere. I wish I could tell you your money was contributing to the construction of a bullpen for Johnny, or healthcare for the sick and old elephants, or the hiring of a real veterinarian and not students (who are amazing and caring and do a fantastic job with the limited tools and resources they are given!). But I can’t. Your money is going to the purchasing of more elephants so EW can continue breeding into captivity and obtaining more elephants that won’t be properly cared for, and to the construction of a spa for overnight visitors.
Volunteering here was a horribly sad experience, with many tears shed by all of us. The only reason any of us stayed was to spread the truth to the visitors we guided, in hopes that honesty and transparency could make some positive impact. It seems that in the past the only changes made at EW by the owner were a result of negative Trip Advisor/social media reviews. I beg you, if you do come to this “sanctuary” please go into your experience with open eyes and leave an honest review. Hopefully this review will make some positive impact in the lives of these magnificent animals, who deserve a better and more free life where they’re truthfully NOT working for humans anymore.
Thank you all so much for your comments and caring words! Please feel free to copy and paste the text (apparently it can’t be shared) to post for yourself! The only way to stop businesses like this is to stop the heavy volume of tourism it gets. Since posting this two weeks ago, the new male has been chained to a tree on all four legs and they have purchased a new pregnant violent female.
For all of those talking about going to/volunteering at another sanctuary, I believe a good rule of thumb is this- if it offers an activity that is for tourists and NOT for elephants, it is not a sanctuary (in my opinion). For example, elephants are fully capable of feeding and bathing themselves, they absolutely do not need people to do it for them. Activities such as filling fruit baskets based on their different dietary needs and then giving them the fruit to eat for themselves, and planting/cutting corn are great activities that help and do not disrupt the elephants’ environment! Ideally, in a sanctuary there should be no contact with the elephants, only observation. Interaction benefits humans, not elephants.
