Elephant Owners In Samui?

[janette]

Hi,

I'm coming to Koh Samui for 3 weeks for a holiday. I have loved elephants since I was little. I'm not sure why I feel so much attention to them 'cause I have only once been able to touch one. No I feel it's my change to get close to those beautiful animals. I would like to experience more, than just some elephant riding trip in some bascet.

I'd like to feed or wash elephants, i'd like to take care of them.

So, does anyone have an elephant or know where I could do that kind of things?

Or is is possible at all?

Greetings from Finland,

Janette

[seville]

Hi Janette,

The situation with Elephants in Thailand is a sad story. Elephants every where for that matter are severely threatened. But Asain Elephants, because they can be trained, are often treated very poorly.

A long story that I won't get into here.

My guess is that the Elephants on Samui are working very hard everyday and the chance of you getting to help out taking care of any of the ones on Samui or Phangan are slim. I have not personally gone to any of the camps on either island and don't know how well they are treated.

There are two Non-Profit wildlife centers in the Kingdom that I have volunteered at and both have Elephants you can have hands on experience with. The work is hard and they charge you for volunteering. Both places feed you and give you a place to stay while you are there. All your money goes to the animals. All the animals were taken from abusive situations and working with them was one of the best things I've ever done. My guess is that you will either have to change your plans completely to do this, extend your trip or plan a second one. You may be able to work at Hua Hin for a week, but I'm not sure. Most Wildlife Centers want you to commit to a month or longer.

One is near Hua Hin Wildlife Friends of Thailand

http://www.wfft.org/

The othere is The Elephant Nature Park in Chang Mia

http://www.thaifocus.com/elephant/index.htm

[LaoPo]

Hi,

I'm coming to Koh Samui for 3 weeks for a holiday. I have loved elephants since I was little. I'm not sure why I feel so much attention to them 'cause I have only once been able to touch one. No I feel it's my change to get close to those beautiful animals. I would like to experience more, than just some elephant riding trip in some bascet.

I'd like to feed or wash elephants, i'd like to take care of them.

So, does anyone have an elephant or know where I could do that kind of things?

Or is is possible at all?

Greetings from Finland,

Janette

Check this:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=samui...G=Google+Search

LaoPo

[janette]

Thank you both for ansvering.

My trip would be too short for volunteering to help the elephants in Northern Thailand. But I must defenetly put that in mind and hopefully travel to Thailand again.

Sawadees trips sounded nice, maybe I take few of them. Local travel agency is always better. Thanks for the tip LaoPo.

Every suggestion is still wellcome.