Kanchanaburi Elephant Tours

Kanchanaburi is one of the tourist highlights of a trip to Thailand and one of the most well known provinces, even for people who have never visited Thailand. Kanchanaburi’s popularity largely comes from its wartime history and the world famous Bridge Over The River Kwai and historically inaccurate 1957 film ‘The Bridge over the River Kwai’. Of course Kanchanaburi has a lot more to offer than the River Kwai Bridge and related war museum and war memorial, and there are a number of different tours in Kanchanaburi for the visitor with some of the best tours being available at the well known Kanchanaburi elephant camp.
One of the most popular tours in Kanchanaburi is of course the elephant tours, which can be found in every major tourist destination in Thailand, and in Kanchanaburi at the Kanchanaburi elephant camp. Elephant tours are usually high up on the itinerary list of holiday makers in Thailand, which is no real surprise as the elephant is Thailand’s national animal. Kanchanaburi elephant camp’s elephant tours include trekking with elephants (which is basically a ride on the back of an elephant through a jungle area), feeding the elephants, learning how the mahouts train and handle the elephants and perhaps the most fun part of all, swimming with the elephants.
The swimming with elephants part of the tour is a little misleading as visitors don’t exactly swim with the elephants, rather they join the elephants for a bath! At the end of a tour the elephants, having walked through the jungle are muddy and also quite hot, so the mahouts take them and visitors on tour to a small section of river where the elephants are then led into the water to cool down and clean themselves off. Visitors are invited into the river to sit on the elephants back, holding on with a piece of rope which is harnessed to the elephant. Then the only trick for visitors is to hold onto the rope and try to stay on the elephants back! The swimming with elephants experience is certainly a memorable one and a favourite part of an elephant tour at Kanchanaburi elephant camp for many people.
For some visitors such as older people or very young children, the idea of swimming with elephants might not sound so fun or be possible, and these people can instead take advantage of a custom elephant tour. A custom elephant tour is a tour that has a flexible itinerary and is customised to suit visitor needs. On custom elephant tours a group of visitors can discuss with the Kanchanaburi elephant camp tour staff beforehand what they would like to do, and not like to do. Kanchanaburi elephant camp’s custom private tours are able to cater to individual needs more easily, for example, if there are OAPs on the trip that need more rest in Thailand’s tropical climate.
The tour staff at Kanchanaburi elephant camp will always make sure their visitors are comfortable on their tour but for those that like that little extra comfort and privacy there are private tours available. These come with a private van and driver, an English speaking guide and lunch. The private tours are ideal for a larger group of friends, or family on tour. One of the main advantages of the private tours is that the tours can be customized so the visitors can choose exactly what they would like to do and see, and when they would like to do it.
For smaller groups that wish to have even more luxury there is an optional extra for the private tours. These come in the shape of a Toyota Camry and are classed as a limousine service which costs an extra 1000 baht per day. The Toyota limousines are all new, clean and comfortable and spacious enough to easily seat four adults. For larger groups that require the same comfort VIP minivans can be hired, again for an extra 1000 baht per day.
When not on tour in Kanchanaburi there are many other tourist attractions to visit in the province. One of the most famous is the Tiger Temple in Kanchanaburi. The Tiger temple is home to numerous animals including camels, leopards, deer, water buffalo, but of course the star attractions are the tigers at the temple, which can be petted by visitors making for a great photo opportunity. The tigers are washed, handled and cared for by Thai monks, and are fed on a diet of boiled chicken, boiled beef and dry cat food. The tiger meat is boiled so as not to give them a taste for blood. Another Kanchanaburi animal attraction is the Safari park Open Zoo & Camp Bhopal Kanchanaburi.
This is the first open zoo in the Kanchanaburi province and visitors can get up close and personal with a wide variety of animals including Asiatic Black Bear, Horse Deer, Rusa Deer, Chita (Spotted Deer), Fallow Deer , Blackbuck, Buffalo, Giraffe, Zebra, Llama, Camel, Ostrich, Flamingo, Wildfowl and of course the big cats, African Lions and Bengal Tigers. Kanchanaburi Open Zoo also has four types of animal shows, the Dog Show, Elephant Show, Crocodile Wrestling Show and Macaw Arena Show.
Tourists can drive around inside of the park of take a free minibus through the eight zones that house the different animals. Tourists can reach out and touch many of the animals and are encouraged to feed the animals by hand, or even by holding the food in the mouth! The Safari Park Open Zoo and Camp Bhopal Kanchanaburi is a popular Kanchanaburi attraction and a memorable experience. Kanchanaburi Open Zoo is an environmental education centre leading to environmentally sustainable conservation.

By: Simon Woodley