This is the most popular sanctuary on Samui in terms of visitor comfort and organization. There's a lovely café serving delicious food and drinks, including various brews that many people cant go through their day without. Sinks are conveniently located throughout the area for handwashing.

The guides here are highly professional and multilingual, including proficiency in German.

Your adventure begins with preparing special food for the elephants and later feeding a patiently waiting herd in the background. It's truly enjoyable to witness how quickly the food vanishes into their mouths and how many trunks reach out for the baskets filled with food.

Next, you'll be handed a tote bag filled with many bananas and head to the heart of the sanctuary – the incredible Sky Bridge, suspended over plains where numerous elephants graze alongside their caretakers, who have been with them since childhood. Even at night, they constantly check on the elephants to ensure they are sleeping peacefully.

Elephants with traumatic pasts from exploitation in riding parks and logging sites often carry a lot of fears and insecurities in their lives. The mahouts, as they were previously known, play a crucial role in helping these elephants overcome their issues.

Walking across the bridge and feeding the elephants is the most captivating and extraordinary part of your visit. Please, pay attention to the smaller elephants who may not be able to reach you with their trunks and could go hungry.

The next stop is a place where a group of elephants and their caretakers gather for introductions. You'll hear stories about elephants rescued from various places across Thailand. Learn their names and offer hugs to those who seek it, as they have become accustomed to it from their previous roles in entertaining tourists. Take a group photo surrounded by this wonderful squad.

As you explore the area, you'll encounter some remarkable elephants, some of whom are still recovering from their abusive past environments. Others are not young and require special treatments and diets.

During your journey, you'll understand why bananas grown on Samui are not suitable for elephants, why male elephants should be separated from the main group, and why it's important to keep your distance from female elephants with babies, as they may perceive you as a threat to their offspring.

At the conclusion of your adventure, an authentic Pad Thai awaits you for lunch.

Our story and mission:

Founded by Chokchai Rueangsri, whose family has owned and worked with elephants for generations, Samui Elephant Kingdom is a sanctuary that is dedicated to providing a safe, naturalistic, and loving home for elephants that have been rescued from the tourism and entertainment industry. Unlike many other elephant experiences that exploit these beautiful animals for profit, Samui Elephant Kingdom is committed to providing a naturalistic environment for their elephants, where they can roam free and express their natural behaviors without fear.

At Samui Elephant Kingdom, we prioritize the health, well-being, and happiness of our elephants, which is why we have a compassionate and positive reinforcement-based approach to their care. Our approach ensures that our elephants are happy, healthy, and free to behave in ways that are natural to them. We work with the local community to further the understanding of the needs of captive elephants and ensure good practice in elephant care and conservation.

Our elephant sanctuary is set on 10 acres of lush greenery, providing plenty of space for the elephants to roam around. We have a team of dedicated mahouts, who are traditional elephant caretakers, providing the best care for our herd. Our mahouts come from traditional families where previous generations have cared for elephants in trekking camps. Many of them have been mahouts for over 10 years, starting as teenagers. Without the care given to the elephants by our amazing mahouts, we would not be able to function. Our mahouts have also been on a transformational journey with us and know that using positive reinforcement, being kind and caring to our herd, is the very best way to ensure happy elephants.

When you visit Samui Elephant Kingdom, you'll have the opportunity to observe our elephants in their natural habitat, foraging for food, playing, and interacting with each other. We offer a range of exciting activities, including a beautiful 400m long Skywalk, where you can observe our elephants in the most naturalistic way possible. Our newest development is a purpose-built elephant clinic that will be available for all elephants in the area. We will have a veterinarian with special skills to ensure the best care.

At Samui Elephant Kingdom, we value the intrinsic role of our mahouts and provide on-site housing for them and their families. We consider our elephants and our mahouts as family members. We are all in this together. Caring for elephants is almost a spiritual practice, and each month our head mahout performs a beautiful ceremony known as Pakam chang to honor our herd and their ancestors.

Our mission is to promote and assist the rehabilitation of captive elephants and to meet their individual needs so that they can live to their full potential. Our aims are to improve the health and wellbeing of our captive elephants, offer specialized veterinary care to elephants in the province of Surat Thani, help rehabilitate traumatized, sick, abused, isolated and psychologically damaged elephants, and ensure that human interaction encourages a naturalistic life for elephants, so they can free range forage and express the natural physical, social, and cognitive behavior to the fullest extent possible.

So come and join us for a truly magical and unforgettable elephant experience on Koh Samui. We provide a comfortable and safe environment where you can enjoy communicating with these incredibly charming animals. Don't forget to bring sunscreen, a change of clothes, towels, and your camera to capture all the special moments you'll have with our beautiful elephants. Book your tour at Samui Elephant Kingdom today and discover a new level of elephant care and conservation!