How to Feed the Elephants in Thailand
Feed the Elephant Experience at Elephant Jungle Sanctuary.
If you want to experience elephants in Phuket, head to the Elephant Jungle Sanctuary in Phuket. There are multiple excursions you can book while there. You can feed the elephants, Feed and Bathe, Watch, or do a half-day program. The half-day program includes bathing and a mud spa experience.
We chose the Feed the Elephants option because we wanted to interact with them before heading off to the Big Buddha. This is a great excursion if you are short on time but want to learn more about them.
How much did it cost?
This tour costs $32.75 per person or 900 THB and can be booked via Klook. It included 1 hour with the elephants and a water or soda afterward.
How do you get to the Elephant Jungle Sanctuary?
You can call a Grab or have your hotel call one. Once you tell your driver where you are going, they know the exact route and entrance to take you to. We had to tell them the excursion we were doing because there are two entrances and they want to make sure they leave you at the correct one!
What was the Feed the Elephants experience like?
Upon entering the Elephant Jungle Sanctuary they give you a band that indicates the tour you booked. The Feed the Elephants tour included background information regarding the elephants before showing us the proper way to feed them. One of the elephants was blind on their left side so you had to stand on the other side while feeding them. The elephants had options of pineapples or bananas to eat during the hour we were with them. Each group feeds the Elephants something different so that they are meeting all their dietary needs.
The elephants were not tied or chained. They mainly stayed where they were as we fed them. There were a few times they would walk across the space and head to get water or stand near some of their friends.
You do have to be quick with the food as they eat quickly and put their trunks out again for more food.
At the end of the experience, you can see journals and papers the sanctuary makes using the elephants’ dung. They are available to purchase.
This is a family-friendly activity that all can participate in.
Would you do it again?
Yes, I really enjoyed this experience. I felt safe and getting to know about each of the elephants made the experience even better. I loved that they were not chained and got to see them eat and drink during my time there.
Conclusion
I would highly recommend heading to the Elephant Jungle Sanctuary to those who head to Phuket, Thailand. Feeding the Elephants was one of the highlights of my time in Phuket. Let me know if you have had this experience or are interested in adding it to your bucket list in the comments.
If you want to explore more of Phuket check out these posts:
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Glad to hear that the elephants are not chained. Does the jungle sanctuary re-release the elephants into the wild if they recover fully?
What a great experience. I’d love to volunteer in one of these sanctuaries.
I fed and bathed elephants in Thailand years ago and it was such a great experience! i’m glad you had a good time, too. They are such cute creatures 🙂
I have never seen these incredible animals close, so I’d love to visit the Elephant Jungle Sanctuary and get this unforgettable experience of a half-day program. Thank you for sharing!
Great that the elephants weren’t chained! Love that they got many different foods.