Krabi Elephant Trekking Guide

In Krabi, there are many land and sea activities you can do. For land activities, one of the favorite day tours is elephant trekking. This is typically a 1 hour ride on top of an elephant.

It is very exciting as the elephant is guided through rubber plantations and swampy narrow streams. At first it may seem intimidating looking at the elephant humongous size, let alone ride on top of it.

Suprisingly the elephants are very gentle and are well trained. They are accustomed to being around adults and children and pose no threat.

What are the things you should bring?

• Make sure you have enough spare batteries for your camera as it is quite a long ride out there in the vegetation

• It is best to bring a video camera to record your exhilarating adventure ride and share with your friends or loved ones

• insect repellant as there will be mosquitoes in tropical plantations

• apply plenty of sun block, in the peak season expect Krabi to be a sunny place

• bring a golf umbrella when you are on top of the elephant there is no way to avoid the sunshine

• loose and stretchable fabric as you will be boarding the elephant

• wear shoes, the ride is sometimes a bit rocky

• for ladies you might think twice about wearing skirts, it is advisable to wear bermudas or long pants

Where to book elephant trekking in Krabi?

The elephant trekking activity is often part of day tour package. One of the day tour package I have taken up include exploring natural hot spring in their national park and visiting tiger cave temple.

• Do not book at online websites as they are overpriced
• Do not book your land or sea activities eg Krabi 5 island hopping tour at your hotel
• You should always book all your tour packages when you arrive in Krabi or Ao nang beach

• You can bargain or negotiate the tour package price along the Ao nang beach area
• You can save lot more by asking and shop for prices, those little tables setup along the Ao nang main beach area give competitive prices

It all depends on the type of combination day tour package. As a rough guide the most you can pay is 1600 baht or USD 46 per person.

The day tour package I have taken include

• tiger cave temple
• lunch
• crystal stream
• emerald pool (Sra Morakot)

• natural hot spring

There may be concerns for some who are against using animals for entertainment. As I have personally been to the elephant trekking camp, the elephants are strong and seems very happy and well provided for.

There are a few elephant camps in Krabi and they must follow strict guidelines as set by the National Livestock Department regarding the provision of adequate food, water and shade for their animals, as well as proper health care.

Tourism helps the elephants to able to earn their keep, while living as freely as possible. They are costly to maintain as they eat up to 300kg per day.

As there is not enough space to release them into the wild the only alternatives for these gentle giants are begging, illegal logging, or inactivity in a zoo.

Join me for an exciting ride as I write about my Krabi elephant trekking adventure