Thailand's Elephant Camps Rethink Tourism as Costs and Welfare Pressures Mount

62 Elephants, 300 Jobs and a Struggle to Keep Visitors Coming

At Mae Taeng Elephant Park in Chiang Mai, the challenge of rebuilding Thailand's elephant tourism industry comes down to daily responsibilities: feeding 62 elephants and supporting 300 employees while visitor numbers remain far below their busiest periods before COVID-19.

The park once welcomed as many as 2,700 people a day during peak periods. Its visitor numbers now stand at about 200 on weekdays and between 700 and 1,200 during high season. Even the upper end of that seasonal range is less than half the former peak, leaving the business with fewer customers to support animals and workers whose needs continue every day.

Mae Taeng is responding by expanding Hug Elephant, an educational program priced at 1,650 baht. Visitors wear mahout clothing, prepare health supplements, make herbal soap, feed elephants and help bathe them. A mahout is an elephant handler who takes responsibility for an animal's daily care.

The changes reflect a wider struggle across Thailand's elephant camps, especially in Chiang Mai province. The pandemic, an economic downturn, natural disasters and changing expectations about animal welfare have pushed operators to reconsider attractions built around rides, shows and close contact.

For decades, elephant tourism has been a cornerstone of Thailand's travel industry, drawing millions of visitors annually. As of June 12, 2025, camps are trying to recover that income while answering a harder question about their operations: how to support elephants and the communities caring for them while giving visitors experiences that put animal welfare first.

Mae Taeng Turns Toward Lessons in Elephant Care

Mae Taeng, one of Chiang Mai's most established elephant camps, was traditionally known for elephant rides and shows. Its expansion of Hug Elephant gives visitors a different focus: learning about elephant behaviour, diet and care through activities involving the animals.

The program uses elephants comfortable with human interaction. Among them is Phu Pink, a young elephant with more than 150,000 social media followers. That following also gives the park a way to reach potential visitors beyond the tour groups that previously filled its grounds.

Thanabhumi Asoketrakoon, Mae Taeng's corporate communications manager, described the park's change in direction and the role visitors now take in the educational program:

We've had to completely rethink our approach. The traditional model simply isn't sustainable in the current climate. We focus on education rather than entertainment. Visitors dress as mahouts and learn about elephant behaviour, diet, and care practices.

Camps across northern Thailand are introducing similar programs. Their aim is to replace an emphasis on spectacle with experiences that teach visitors about the animals and give greater priority to their welfare.

Mae Taeng's activities still include direct contact, such as feeding and bathing. Other operators are pursuing experiences with less contact. Those choices are central to the industry's debate over what an ethical elephant visit should involve, even as camps share the immediate need to bring paying customers back.

How the Pandemic Changed Daily Life for Elephants

A 2022 study attributed to the National Institutes of Health described how international travel restrictions and the collapse of tourism disrupted elephant camps. Many closed or sharply reduced their operations, leaving less money for staff, food and daily care.

Staff layoffs changed the ratio of mahouts to elephants from one handler for each elephant to one handler for every two elephants. That meant fewer people were available to carry out care routines at a time when the animals' lives were also becoming less active.

Elephants walked shorter distances, while work activities were reduced or stopped. Chaining hours increased as inactivity grew. Food supplies dwindled, affecting nutrition, and some elephants were returned to villages or sold.

The crisis therefore reached beyond empty visitor areas and lost ticket sales. Changes in staffing, movement and food affected the animals themselves, while workers lost jobs or faced new responsibilities.

The pressures have developed over several years:

• During the COVID-19 pandemic, international travel restrictions caused tourism to collapse, prompting camp closures, reduced operations and staff layoffs.
• In 2022, the study attributed to the National Institutes of Health documented changes in staffing, elephant activity, chaining and nutrition.
• In 2023, flooding and earthquakes reduced tourist arrivals by 50 percent.
• In 2024, Booking.com's Sustainable Travel Report recorded growing interest in leaving destinations better than visitors found them.
• By June 12, 2025, camps were expanding educational activities, overseas promotion and partnerships to rebuild their businesses.

Food Bills Continue Through Floods and Quiet Months

Flooding and earthquakes in 2023 added another blow to camps already struggling after the pandemic, reducing tourist arrivals by 50 percent. Seasonal changes also make earnings uneven, even when travel is possible.

September is known among operators as the "month of hunger" because visitor numbers are low while operating costs remain high. Annual haze pollution is another persistent problem. Early rains had brought some relief in 2025, but the recurring haze remained part of the conditions affecting the industry.

Each elephant requires about 500 baht worth of food a day and can consume vegetation weighing up to 10 percent of its body weight. At Mae Taeng, monthly food costs for its 62 elephants were also put at as much as 400,000 baht. The two cost figures were given without an explanation of how the daily estimate relates to the park's monthly total.

Feeding remains a daily obligation regardless of ticket sales. A quiet weekday, a period of flooding or a weak travel season can reduce income, but elephants still need food and people to care for them.

That makes recovery more complicated than reopening an attraction after a temporary closure. Camps need a continuing source of income that can support care during busy periods and carry them through the months when fewer visitors arrive.

Overseas Promotion Supports Local Livelihoods

Mae Taeng and other camps are using several approaches to rebuild demand. They participate in Tourism Authority of Thailand events, with particular attention to China, which previously accounted for 70 percent of visitors.

Operators have also established promotional booths in nearly 10 countries and markets, including Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan and the Philippines. Connecting with tour agents in more places is intended to broaden their customer base instead of depending so heavily on a single market.

Chiang Mai's tourism industry council and local business associations are part of that effort through partnerships offering mutual support and resource sharing. Camps have also used prominent cultural events to attract attention, including weddings for American couples on elephant back, intended to generate international media coverage and showcase Thai culture.

Mae Taeng's workforce extends beyond elephant handlers. Its 300 employees include restaurant staff and members of the Karen long-neck village community. The camp provides housing, utilities and rice, making the business a source of practical support for local families as well as wages.

Special prices for Thai visitors and the use of elephant personalities on social media are intended to bring in more domestic tourists. International guests still make up the majority of visitors, so overseas travel remains central to the park's recovery.

The consequences of a camp's financial difficulties therefore spread through a wider community. A decline in visitors affects the people serving food, maintaining the site and caring for elephants, along with families relying on the housing and other support the business provides.

Visitors Want Their Trips to Leave a Benefit

Booking.com's 2024 Sustainable Travel Report found that 71 percent of travellers wanted to leave the places they visited better than they found them, compared with 66 percent in 2023. The increase of five percentage points reflects growing interest in travel that brings a benefit to destinations.

Regenerative tourism is the term used for an approach that goes beyond trying to limit damage. Its aim is to help restore ecosystems and support local communities. In elephant tourism, that means giving priority to animal welfare, conservation and education instead of exploitative activities.

Elephant Hills in Khao Sok and Pattaya Elephant Sanctuary offer experiences without chains, hooks or riding. Elephants are allowed to roam freely, while visitor activities are limited to observation, feeding and learning about elephant behaviour in a natural setting.

Hayley Lynagh, managing director of Global Spirit, an animal welfare auditing specialist, praised Elephant Hills' practices against the criteria used in its assessment:

Elephant Hills meets core criteria, exceeds requirements on all relevant criteria, and demonstrates best practice in many areas of operation.

Elephant Jungle Sanctuary has also focused on ethical tourism and conservation. Its approach includes safe environments for elephants, jobs for local communities and wildlife preservation initiatives. Visitors take part in feeding and bathing, with the stated emphasis on learning and respecting the animals' natural behaviour.

These examples show the range of activities being offered under the broader shift toward ethical tourism. Some venues retain feeding and bathing, while others place greater weight on watching elephants. The choices made within each program matter to both the visitor experience and the animals' daily routines.

A Sanctuary Name Comes Without a Shared Standard

The Tourism Authority of Thailand acknowledges an ambiguity in the use of the word sanctuary: anyone can register a business under that name without meeting animal welfare criteria. There are no agreed standards or regulations governing the label.

Some venues using the term continue to allow direct contact with elephants. Other concerns include breeding elephants in captivity without plans to return them to the wild, and supplying young elephants to exploitative industries.

Returning an elephant to the wild is often described as rewilding. In this debate, the concern is that breeding programs may increase the number of captive animals without a plan for those elephants to live independently in a natural habitat.

World Animal Protection and other wildlife organisations have long called for stricter standards. They urge travellers to avoid elephant rides and performances and to support venues that give priority to observation and conservation.

Travellers are encouraged to examine operators' animal welfare policies, check independent reviews and seek clear information about how elephants are cared for. The purpose is to direct tourism spending toward genuine conservation efforts and away from practices that harm animals.

Tour Operators Can Change What Visitors Are Sold

G Adventures has committed to avoiding elephant entertainment through World Animal Protection's Elephant Friendly Pledge. Brian Young, its managing director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, explained the company's position on riding and the advice it gives travellers:

We were one of the first operators to recognize that elephant riding is wrong and that they can't be 'tamed' without cruel treatment. We signed the World Animal Protection Elephant Friendly Pledge committing not to sell or promote attractions that offer elephant entertainment. We now educate our travelers on why they shouldn't ride them or visit businesses that offer this activity.

Travel companies influence the industry through the excursions they sell and recommend. A decision to stop offering rides removes those activities from customers' itineraries, while choosing observation and education can send revenue toward camps built around different practices.

For operators seeking a recovery, changing visitor expectations create a business challenge alongside the welfare debate. Mae Taeng's educational expansion, the observation activities offered elsewhere and the commitments made by tour companies all point to changes in what tourists are being invited to buy.

The industry's recovery therefore involves more than restoring visitor totals. Camps are also reconsidering the activities that earn their income, while travel companies and customers make choices that affect which approaches receive financial support.

Tourism Is Part of a Wider Conservation Challenge

Thailand is home to approximately 15 percent of the world's remaining wild Asian elephants. Between 3,100 and 3,600 live across 69 protected areas, linking the country's responsibilities to the survival of the species beyond tourist attractions.

Captive elephants are described as outnumbering wild elephants nationally, while around 2,800 elephants live in tourism venues. The tourism figure covers animals at those venues; a total for all elephants in captivity was not given.

Across Asia, nearly 75 percent of captive elephants are used for tourist entertainment. That share makes tourism a major part of the discussion about how elephants are housed, handled and supported.

The proposed shift toward regenerative travel connects several needs: better care for captive elephants, conservation, visitor education and livelihoods for the communities working with the animals. Supporters hope that models giving priority to those goals will set higher standards as the industry recovers and encourage broader change across Southeast Asia and beyond.

Mae Taeng's experience shows why the decisions are difficult. The park has elephants to feed and families to support, yet it is operating with far fewer visitors than at its former peak. Its future, like that of other camps, depends on earning enough to continue care while adapting to demands for more humane tourism.

The Essentials

• Mae Taeng Elephant Park cares for 62 elephants and supports 300 employees, while visitor numbers remain below its peak before the pandemic.
• Its Hug Elephant program costs 1,650 baht and focuses on learning about elephant behaviour, food and care through direct activities.
• The pandemic disrupted staffing, nutrition and daily routines; flooding, earthquakes, haze and quiet travel seasons added pressure.
• Camps are seeking visitors through overseas promotion, local partnerships, domestic pricing and social media.
• Booking.com's 2024 survey found 71 percent of travellers wanted to leave destinations better than they found them, up from 66 percent in 2023.
• A sanctuary business name comes without agreed animal welfare standards, making operators' actual practices central to visitor choices.
• Thailand has between 3,100 and 3,600 wild elephants across 69 protected areas and around 2,800 elephants in tourism venues.
• The industry's recovery depends on reliable income, community support and care practices that give priority to elephant welfare.