Samui Elephant Sanctuary

No riding, no bathing: feed and walk with rescued elephants in Bophut or Chaweng Noi. 3 hour tour or 1.5 hour encounter, under 4s free, hotel pickup included.

Samui Elephant Sanctuary is a no-riding, no-bathing home for rescued elephants, with grounds in Bophut and a second site at Chaweng Noi. You prepare the food and feed the elephants from a platform, walk the grounds with them, and watch them forage, swim and roll in the mud pit. Visitors stay out of the water; the sanctuary's own site explains that people crowding an elephant in the water stresses it. Two ways to visit: the 3 hour tour (9 to 12 or 2 to 5, vegetarian meal included) at 2,900 THB for adults and 1,400 THB for children 5 to 11, or the 1.5 hour encounter (10 to 11:30 or 1 to 2:30, coffee, tea and snacks) at 2,000 THB and 1,000 THB. Under 4s go free. Hotel pickup both ways is included, there is no deposit and you pay on arrival. For parents, the founder tells us there is shade, toilets, somewhere to change a baby, and a stroller gets around; it is all outdoors with no air conditioning, so with a toddler our pick is the 10 am encounter, finished by 11:30 before the heat and the nap. Bring closed shoes (no bare feet), a hat, sunscreen, repellent, a refillable bottle (chilled water on site) and clothes that can get dirty; no swimwear, and men keep a shirt on. Prices from the sanctuary's site, September 2026.

Run this place? Keep your facts right: two minutes, no login.