Best way to see elephants while in Thailand - The sanctuary was a great experience. They take good care of the elephants and you can tell when you see how happy they are. The guides spoke great English and answered a lot of in-depth questions about the elephants care. You also get to feed the elephants fruit. The buffet they offer afterward was all vegetarian and really good food.

You NEED To Experience This Place!! - This was such a beautiful experience! My friends and I even shed a tear in the introduction video. This place is beautiful and ethical. Our guide Rita was phenomenal. She was engaging and funny. I would recommend this place 1,000 times!!

Wonderful, must see - The facility was absolutely beautiful and humongous. I loved that it was an ethical elephant sanctuary where the staff truly cares about these beautiful creatures and helping them by working to create an elephant hospital for rehabilitation. Definitely recommend visiting this place while you’re in Phuket!

Awesome lifetime experience! - Do not go anywhere else to see and interact with the elephants this place is awesome! The staff and sanctuary are doing amazing things for the elephants and the programs are definitely worth the price, they are so organized, you can take as many pics, feed them and lunch was excellent. A once in a lifetime experience you don’t want to miss!

Amazing experience - What a brilliant experience,we watched the elephants bathe themselves and walk around in their natural environment. We were told about their lives and how they had been treated. The elephants had been brought here to retire in peace. It is an amazing facility. The guides are extremely knowledgeable.

Ethical Elephant Sanctuary - This was such a good trip , amazing guides , lunch and snacks good and the best part was the elephants !! They were so well looked after and no bathing so very ethical

Must see in Phuket - You'll walk among the elephants! It's more than just viewing them from the walkway. And the entire staff was gracious and knowledgeable.

Exceptional Tour with the Elephants in Thailand - What an incredible organization! This tour was educational and fun and the buffet dinner was delicious. Our tour guide was Rudi - he was kind and patient with kids, a local with stories and tons of information. Everything was well organized and safe. The work they are doing at this sanctuary to provide refuge to elephants in their retirement is commendable. Plus we got close up, hands on time with the elephants too but in an environment that is kinder to them. Highly recommend this tour to everyone!

Sanctuary for elephants - Well organized and structured, despite many tourists. We were divided into smaller groups and got information about the company before we got to go out on a tour of the park and see and learn about the rescued elephants up close. Without having any kind of physical contact with them, it felt like the company and the employees respected and were kind to the elephants’ well-being and healing after their previous worse lives. Where elephants are exploited for elephant riding, circus arts etc in a non-sustainable or animal friendly way.

Staged & questioning ethics! - Visited a couple of days ago and thought long and hard about my visit. I am not completely convinced the elephant sanctuary is as ethical as it portrays. Started out by watching a video about how the sanctuary began - this was quite moving telling the stories of the elephants being mistreated/misused and how they was rescued. The afternoon session was made up of approximately 10 groups each group had between 15 and 20 people. Group by group we headed down to the “jungle” each group heading in different directions. We arrived at our first elephant, where we took photographs and observed. After a short time we walked to the next elephant. I asked our guide are the elephants free to roam the area once visitors have left. Her response was no - all elephants go back to their bedrooms at the end of the day. We were not able to see the bedrooms as it is not part of the programme. At this point I began to question is this really ethical? I felt the whole experience was very staged, for example an elephant was standing near a watering hole - once the visitors came closer the elephant entered the water and started swishing around in the water and putting on a performance. The elephants are there to perform to the visitors I asked our guide how much it costs to rescue an elephant - her response was between 700,000 and 1.5m bhat - depending their condition/needs. To feed and medicate all elephants is around 315,000 bhat per month. I asked how many visitors attend the sanctuary per year. At this point, she no longer wanted to answer my questions. These elephants have had years of mistreatment and should now be looked after as they deserved. Not being made to perform in a different way! I’m not convinced this sanctuary is as ethical as it is portraying. Do the math….someone is making a lot of money. I came away feeling sad and disheartened. My guess is most sanctuaries will be the same.