Looking for an incredible experience? How about working as a volunteer at an ethical Elephant Sanctuary in Thailand? Not talking one of those places where ride the elephants. We are talking a sanctuary where you work with the elephants. You give them a bath, you feed them, you help clean their sleeping area and yes you shovel elephant dung.
It’s exhausting work but so rewarding. You get to interact with these amazing creatures and see how they each have their own personality. You can volunteer for a day or a week. All up to you.
The two main locations for these sanctuaries are Chiang Mai and Phuket. Chiang Mai is up north and will have a more tropical, jungle feel to that area. The sanctuaries in Phuket are going to be closer to beaches of Phuket. Our preference is those near Phuket. You stay in Phuket and are taken to the sanctuary on the day or days you are going to volunteer.
Due to the size and nature of the elephants, most Elephant Sanctuaries do not allow kids. These volunteer programs are suitable for adults aged 18 to 80 with good health and a desire and passion for working hard for the elephants.
We like staying in Phuket for this adventure as Phuket offers an amazing beach, first class resorts and great spas and low prices. Nothing like an hour or two massage after a day of working with the elephants. A typical massage session on the beach lasts about 2 hours and costs 300-500 baht. We are talking $15 USD.
A foot massage session is about 40-50 minutes and costs 300-400 baht. A massage at a 5-star hotel is naturally more expensive – the price can be triple, or more. On the beach, the fee for a massage and foot massage is around 300 baht an hour. That’s about $8 USD!!
Then you spend the rest of the day relaxing on the beach and reliving your experience over a nice cold adult beverage.
To make it even better Phuket is relatively inexpensive to stay in and the dining is excellent and again inexpensive. When dining out an average meal in Phuket should cost around $9 (฿320) per person.
We have a tour to Thailand on Nov. 3, 2024 for 8 nights. Priced as low as $2,089pp and that includes 2 cooking classes (one in Bangkok and one in Phuket) and a day at the Elephant Sanctuary. To see more about that tour click here, then call our office at 800 766-2911. Yes you can bring non airline frihttps://interlinetravel.com/trip/thailand-elephants-nov-3-11-2024/ends with you on all of our tours.
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