Pattaya Elephant Village

Fact File

Address: 54/1 Moo 2, Tambol Nong Prue, Pattaya. Drive down Siam Country Club or Nern Plub Wan Road, then turn right after 4km and follow the signs.

Price: The one-hour trek is 1,000 baht, the 90-minute elephant show is 500 baht, and a combination of the two is 2,000 baht.

Contact: Website: www.elephant-village-pattaya.com, e-mail: info@elephant-village-pattaya.com, phone: 038-249818

Information

Elephants have a special place in Thailand.

They have fought for the nation, worked in the forests and provided employment for people who wish to sell you a bag of bananas for 20 baht.

There aren’t many opportunities to see elephants in their natural environment in Pattaya, unless you head to the city’s own Elephant Village.

Here, just 20 minutes off Sukhumvit, you are away from the high-rise hotels and surrounded by grass, trees, and elephants.

There are several options once you arrive at the village. You can jump on one of the elephants and set off for a mini trek, and you can also get to learn about the training involved with working elephants.

The site opened back in 1973, originally as a sanctuary for former working elephants.

As well as the treks, every day there is an impressive Elephant Show at 2.30pm and 4pm. There are many shows around town that make animals stand on one legs or play basketball, but this show is more traditional.

First off the elephants get washed, no mean task in itself, but a large pond makes for a natural bath. The mahouts lead their elephants from the water and show several traditional techniques which were used to get the animals to haul logs from the forests. More than 1,000 visitors normally come to see the show, meaning it’s good to get there early.

The village is run by a not-for-profit organization, which gets no support from the government or other agencies.

It’s a fascinating chance to get up close to the animals and see them as nature intended. Paying for their upkeep isn’t cheap – it costs up to 5,000 baht a day to keep them in bananas and nuts – and so the prices for the treks equally aren’t overly cheap.

More than 30 elephants live in the village and are cared for by more than 100 staff.

The show was designed by its managing director, Khun Phairat. He said: “It’s a typical day in the life of an elephant, starting with the morning bath. If you want to see the type of show that you find in a circus, you won’t find it on my premises.”

Whereas some shows may have the elephants kicking footballs and playing basketball, here they focus on the more authentic touches.

Pattaya Elephant Village is a great example of a responsible tourist attraction. It keeps things simple, puts the animals first and by doing so offers a fascinating look into the real life of the elephant.

History

Elephants were used to help fight wars in Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries for many centuries. The beasts could stamp on enemies, knock down obstacles and generally scare the life out of the enemy.

They weren’t always used as offensive weapons though as their unpredictable nature meant they could sometimes be more of a danger to their own side than the enemy.

A worried elephant tends to stampede in any direction.

In Thailand, elephants were mainly used to carry kings or commanders who would sit on its neck and fight from there – a bit like a giant joust from medieval times.

Such a sight was awe-inspiring, but also made the commander vulnerable to attack.

By the 17th century the use of elephants changed once Europeans, with firearms, started to arrive. The musket and later the rifle changed the battlefield and meant elephants were no longer useful. Although no longer used on the battlefields, the elephants did provide backup support as recently as World War Two.

Elephants continue to be used in forests in rural areas of the Kingdom for logging.

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