Phuket Elephant Nature Reserve Ethical Sanctuary

Lunch was yummy, good elephant experience. We did the half day tour which included lunch, making food and feeding elephants

The experience was very fun. The staff was very welcoming and professional. The elephants were majestic and wonderful. I would highly recommend.

It’s walk through the park to see the rescued elephants. I recommend comfortable walking shoes. Awesome to see Closeup of elephants. Got to gather food to feed them in the troughs.

I did the 90 minute tour which was the perfect amount of time to learn about these majestic, intelligent creatures and meet and feed them - hands off. It was fascinating (and sad) to learn about their previous lives dancing or being ridden, thanks goodness they can now retire in peace. The guide was amazing and helped take photos, since I visited solo. Highly recommended.

Great experience. Our guide Porsche was super friendly, kind, knowledgeable, and took her time showing us all areas of the sanctuary. The elephants are beautiful and majestic up close. Def recommend

They have 6 elephants all rescued. They have free range around the property. You get close to the elephants but respect their space, they have been given sanctuary for a peaceful retirement. Very good activity for families.

Amazing experience. Guide is so knowledgeable. Elephants are beautiful and you get very close and can take amazing photos.

If you're looking for a genuine sanctuary for elephant, this is the one. All the resident elephants are rescued and are treated and cared for ethically. Our guide for the tour was awesome and we had a great time watching and learning about these giants :)

This was such a lovely experience- being close to the elephants but not feeling like you were causing them any distress. The guide was very knowledgeable and funny. We learnt a lot on the day. Would definitely recommend this trip. We did the 90 minute session.

This was a wonderful experience. I learned so much about the elephants there and fell in love with Bow. She's super sweet and I took the most amazing picture with her. The caretakers are kind patient and loving towards the animals. I definitely want to become a sponsor to help the work they do at this sanctuary.

This is an ethical sanctuary. Nothing is done that will harm the elephants emotionally or physically. It was very educational as well as exciting!

This was an absolutely wonderful experience, and I highly recommend visiting this place! ❤️🐘 Unlike commercial elephant attractions where elephants may be mistreated for profit, this place allows you to see, feed, and spend time with these beautiful animals in their natural habitat, without forcing them to perform or making them do things for entertainment. It was truly heartwarming to see the elephants being elephants and enjoying their freedom. If you want a meaningful and ethical elephant experience, I highly recommend choosing a place like this over attractions that exploit these gentle giants for money. A beautiful experience that I will always cherish! 🌿💚

I had a lovely time here. You get a nice cup of tea on arrival and welcomed with a warm smile from the lovely Siri. I guide Sarah was very informative told us about the history of the elephants and how they’d finally found a safe Haven after having quite hard lives. I’ve found a wonderful experience seeing these beautiful animals up close in a safe environment. It one of the highlights of my trip..

We had the perfect casual experience of a Phuket elephant sanctuary. We knew we didn’t want any physical contact with the elephants for ethical reasons, but also wanted to contribute cash towards rehabilitation and wanted to enjoy being in their presence. This worked out great. Easy to GRAB to and from.

Everything was absolutely wonderful! Our guide was fantastic, very friendly and knowledgeable, and explained everything clearly and in great detail. The elephants are extremely well cared for, and you can really see how happy and relaxed they are. It’s beautiful to see a place where animal welfare truly comes first. I highly recommend this experience to anyone visiting Phuket. Please support ethical elephant sanctuaries! ❤️🐘

This was such a fun experience!! We got so close to the elephants and were glad we chose a spot that is ethical and that really cares about them. Would highly recommend!!

One of the best elephants wildlife sanctuaries in Thailand. All elephants have an amazing story and kudos to this team for taking such good care of them. Elephant encounters were as close as they get. The mahouts were kind and our guide was super knowledgeable! Highly recommend this experience for everyone visiting Phuket!

We had an amazing time at this ethical elephant sanctuary. It was really important to me that I booked an experience that was fully ethical and looked after the elephants needs fully. We got to cut up the elephants food and ethically feed them through a no hands approach, I loved this. We did get quite close to them but also gave them personal space and didn’t touch them at all. I recommend this to anyone who can do it, please always do your research before booking places with animals involved as it may look fun but can be deeply stressful and harmful to the animals involved. I’m glad I did my research and it brought me here!

Was soooo good to see that it was all about the Elephants living their best life after being rescued from what was not their best life. The guide was passionate, knowledgeable, fun and informative. Great way to experience these truly magnificent animals. Loved it !!

We really enjoyed this experience. It was very chill and relaxing. We did the one which included the Thai cooking demonstration and lunch. That was a nice start to the afternoon, and the food was tasty! Simplest ingredients albeit easier to source locally! We loved how personal it was and how every elephant had a story and personality. We learnt a lot and had fun making the vitamin balls and prepping food for the elephants, even though our guide told us frankly, it was just to give us something to do! It was brilliant. Highly recommend as with each visit, you help these elephants!

This experience was absolutely amazing! We love animals so wanted to experience ethical experiences while visiting Thailand, and this experience was so humane and ethical that it warmed our hearts. We enjoyed Mike giving us details of all of the beautiful elephants personalities and their back stories and getting to see them up close yet also respect them, I truly enjoyed. feeding all of the elephants and simply watch them wrong in this beautiful sanctuary that you all have built for them. I truly enjoyed seeing all of the girls, but lotus really touched my heart. The most Mike was an amazing guy and provided so much details and allowed me to be crazy about the vegetation and enjoy the grounds and plants just as much as I enjoy the elephants, thank you for what you were doing here!

The Grab driver had a difficult time navigating the dirt road up to the entrance, but everything else was great. It was very interesting learning about what constituted abuse of elephants. It was fun to feed and learn about each elephant. It was a nice learning experience.

This is a great tour to learn about the elephant culture of Thailand.

We had a wonderful experience at the elephant sanctuary in Phuket! 🐘❤️ It was amazing to see the elephants up close, feed them and spend time with them in a respectful environment. The staff were friendly, knowledgeable and clearly care deeply about the elephants. A beautiful and memorable experience that we would definitely recommend!

What a lovely experience! This was truly an ethical elephant experience and you can tell the keepers really care about these beautiful animals. We helped make food balls for the elephants and saw many different ones up close and watched them eat. Our guide was very knowledgeable, we learned a lot!

We wanted to visit an ethical experience to see and learn about the elephants in their natural environment and this was perfect. A hands off experience but walking around them and close to them being told about elephants generally and their personal stories. We did a 90 minute tour and got to make snacks for them and watch them eat them. They have lovely homes and are well cared for and not abused for tourism as with other places. A great morning!

A wonderful half day experience at Phuket Elephant Nature Reserve Ethical Sanctuary. The number of elephant sanctuaries in the area can be overwhelming, especially when trying to find one that is truly ethical. Phuket Elephant Nature Reserve Ethical Sanctuary is the one. It's strictly "hands off" policy is something it rightly boasts of. Our guide, Dheng (unsure of spelling) has a knowledge of and passion for elephants that is clearly evident in his voice. During the half day visit we were able to prepare food for the elephants, get close enough for photos without feeling intrusive and most importantly learn about the plight of this amazing creature and the work being done to rescue them from the planet's most destructive creature. At thr end of the tour we learned how to make Tam Yam Soup and Pad Thai curry, both of which were beautiful. Please, if you care more about animals than your next instagram post, make this the elephant sanctuary you visit. A true haven for mis-treated elephants.

Wonderful!! You see the elephants up close. You can tell they are loved and well cared for. Such a calming and well manicured environment for the beautiful elephants.

Great experience! Delighted to see such calm, happy elephants! Guide was great with English and answers! Knew all the elephants by name and history.

Very ethical and nice guides! S/O Mr. Mike

So fun to see elephants! Just a heads up, you do not get to pet, feed or touch the elephants here. It was super fun to see them up close though!

If you want pure happiness, this is the place to be. As a solo traveler I often find it hard to just enjoy but this experience was absolutely amazing! I opted for the half day with lunch and WOW- From taking you to meet each and every elephant and their backstory, to helping feed them, to even making paper, this experience was absolutely amazing. Getting to see the elephants so close while still letting them live their own way without harm was eye opening and unreal! Highly recommend for all ages !

Heartwarming to see how well these animals are treated here. It's a beautiful big park with beautiful nature. We could also see some wildlife while we were safely guided through the park. Unlike other animal tourist attractions where the animals are treated harshly, this one is made for giving a warm and safe home for the elephants. We need more of these!

This is the best way to see Elephants up close and in an ethical way. You get to up close and get great photos of these magnificent animals. Your money goes a long way to helping this center in its mission.

This was an amazing day. An excellent tour. More than expected. This was an amazing day. An excellent tour. More than expected.

Wonderful to see the six rescued elephants roam freely with their mahouts. „Porsche” the guide was charming, humorous and full of knowledge. We helped prepare the elephants fruit snd vegetable snack and watched them feed very close up. The no touch aspect was particularly heart warming. We hope the 15 acre reserve will soon find a new and bigger jungle home.

This is a wonderful opportunity to be in the presence and respect these magnificent animals, without exploitation or causing any distress to them. The elephants are well loved and cared for and enjoy all the freedom possible within the boundaries of their enclosure. Of course complete freedom to roam in the wild would be ideal, but is restricted by their histories of burden. What a wonderful experience which we enjoyed very much! Thank you for your continued work. Hopefully more funds can be found along with another site, so that more than 6 can be supported in the future and give more of these special animals a better life, away from exploitation and distress.

Amazing. We were keen to avoid seeing wildlife being exploited for tourism and this Ethical Sanctuary was perfect. The knowledgeable guide talked us through how the elephants are rescued and looked after, acknowledging their needs and creating an environment tailored to their natural needs and instincts. We were still able wander around the open area with our guide to see them close up and interact via providing them with food rather than touching or feeding them directly. We were delighted to see them comfortable and happy. So rather than visiting wildlife where they are forced to "perform" for tourists, giving rides/being touched/washed I cannot recommend this highly enough - and by visiting this Sanctuary you could help establish this model and help Thailand move their wildlife enclosures to this more sustainable and compassionate model.

I had a really great experience here, I did the tour with lunch and got to cook some thai food after visiting with the elephants. Glad it is a no-touch, no-bathing sanctuary, which makes it better for the elephants

This was a very interesting and informative visit to the elephant sanctuary. Our guide was very friendly and knowledgeable. I learned a lot about elephants and their personalities. Also about the treatment of elephants in the past. I would highly recommend a visit to the elephant sanctuary.

A great experience. Loved seeing these elephants roam around, not chained up and not trained for tricks etc. The hands off experience does not take away from the magnificence of these beautiful animals. Our guide was very informative and clearly respects and is passionate about the sanctuary and looking after these animals for the rest of their days

This was such a beautiful experience! My guide was super knowledgeable and I really enjoyed my experience! All the elephants seemed well taken care and the handlers were attentive. If you are looking for a true ethical experience this is definitely the place!

What a wonderful place! From start to finish, this was an incredible experience like no other. My guide, Porsche, was so knowledgeable and really took the time to educate me about these beautiful creatures. I thought she had been doing this for years, and she shocked me when she said she'd only been there 2 months! I got to cut fruit and vegetables for the elephants, and then we fed it to each of them. We also prepared vitamin balls (elephant sushi) and made paper from elephant dung. Just when I thought it current get any better, Porsche did a cooking demo and prepared for me a wonderful meal of Tom Yum soup and Pad Thai, both of which were delicious. I am so glad the operators were able to change my 90 minute tour to the half day at the last minute. Well worth the time and money to support this group. This is a don't miss experience.

You get to be close to elephants. Elephants were very happy and friendly. Everyone was very informative and helpful. What an excellent experience.

We had the most incredible half-day experience at the Phuket Elephant Nature Reserve! Our guide, Porsche, was absolutely fantastic, knowledgeable, friendly, and made the whole tour engaging from start to finish. Plus when we couldn’t get a taxi home she helped us book when at the end even though they had closed. We loved making food baskets and fun “sushi balls” for the elephants, and it was amazing to see how they recycle elephant dung in such a sustainable way. The Thai cooking class at the beginning was great and the reserve were very accommodating for dietary requirements. The reserve is clearly dedicated to the elephants’ wellbeing, and you can feel the care and respect in everything they do. It’s a completely hands off approach, so no bathing the elephants or touching them, which was a must when we were booking this tour as a lot of reserves claim their ethical but still allow people to touch the elephants. Highly recommend this tour to anyone visiting Phuket, it was one of the best things we did in Thailand

If you’re visiting Phuket and want a truly meaningful animal experience, I can’t recommend the Elephant Nature Reserve Sanctuary enough. From the moment we arrived, it was clear this place genuinely puts the elephants first. There’s no riding, no performances—just respect, care, and space for these incredible animals to live peacefully. You can feel the difference immediately. We had the chance to walk alongside the elephants, feed them, and watch them interact naturally—bathing, playing, and just being elephants. The staff were knowledgeable, kind, and clearly passionate about what they do. They shared each elephant’s story, and you could tell these animals are not just cared for—they’re loved. Everything was well organized, clean, and thoughtfully run. It didn’t feel commercialized or rushed at all, which made the experience even more special. If you’re going to visit elephants in Thailand, do it the right way—this is the kind of place that deserves support. An unforgettable experience for all the right reasons.

If you’re going to go to any sanctuary I would go to this one. The caretakers clearly love elephants and respect them so much. I loved supporting a great cause and learning all about elephants. I think the 90 minute session was perfect

Great ethical elephant experience! Would highly recommend if ethics are your priority. Plenty of great interaction and picture opportunities because you get to prepare their lunch and are very close to the elephants but you are not allowed to touch the elephants at all. Wonderful experience!

Visited this wonderful ethical sanctuary and learned about the history of these elephants. Many of them were rescued and others were given to the sanctuary because their owners can no longer care for them. Porsche was a wonderful guide and very knowledgeable about the elephants there. She was also helpful in helping everyone get pictures.