Last Updated on July 21, 2025
I think the owner Leck, of the Elephant Nature Park (ENP), is on a really great mission and has a really great job of bringing elephants to the Elephant Nature Park that have been abused, neglected, or are to old for logging and their owner doesn’t want them anymore.
What she is doing is so great because it’s really sad to see elephants being treated badly but when they come to the ENP they have a very large space of land that has a lake, forest, dirt and many other elephants to roam around in and play with.
It makes me very happy to see someone from Thailand cares so much about saving the elephants that they have a job of going on journeys to search for elephants and then rescue them.
What It Felt Like to Visit the Elephant Nature Park
While at the ENP, my highlight of the day was when I was standing in a river with about 10 elephants. I could take my bucket of water and splash them with cold but dirty water—dirty because they kept pooping in what they bathe in.
I don’t know if there’s really a point in taking a bathe if you’re just going to use it as a toilet, it’s like taking a shower inside a toilet!
What Elephants Are Like Up Close
The elephants seemed like they really enjoyed because they would whip their tails around like a cat or dog and then spray water out of their trunks like a hose. But what really didn’t makes sense was after elephants get wet, they always cover themselves in dirt because they use it as a natural sunscreen, which is adorable because it’s like they know what’s best for themselves.
Also, a 27 year old female elephant was running really quickly away from her mahout because he was trying to give her a bath and what I felt like she was saying to the mahout while making the noise elephants make was “I’m 27 years old and if I don’t want to take a bath, I’m not going to take a bath!”
Things I Learned About Elephants
Something really interesting that I learned from the ENP was if an elephant dies, one of their family members tries to bury them in sand with their tusks, like humans, one again, one of this things where elephants think like people!
My Ideas for the Future of ENP
Although I am happy people get to have the joy of being with elephants, I think the ENP at one point should become a breeding park and still release them in the wild. How I think they could do this is take they elephants they have that are already wild (they have a couple) and breed them but after the baby is born, have as little as possible contact with humans as possible like give them the forest they have to look for their own food.
I think this is a great idea because since elephants are going extinct, someone should make a breeding program that doesn’t treat the elephants cruely, and releases them in the wild.
I think since Thailand has a law where making elephants carry logs around everywhere is illegal, the elephants in Thailand get treated more nicely and there are more wild elephants.
Why I’d Recommend Visiting the Elephant Nature Park
I would also recommend that of you wanted to see elephants at a point in your life you shouldn’t go to Laos, go to the ENP.
And if you’re like me and want to do something about animals going extinct and want to do something about it, you could do what Leck said “I want to work with elephants and help them for the rest of my life.”
And she is just so admirable because in Thai, leck means small and that just shows that even though you’re small, you can still help solve a big problem and work with something as big as an elephant.
🐘 From the Grown-Up Who Was There:
Reflections on Elephant Nature Park
I’ve visited Elephant Nature Park many times over the years, and each visit reaffirms what my niece felt that day: the elephants here are safe, respected, and no longer expected to perform or entertain. ENP is one of the most widely praised ethical sanctuaries in Southeast Asia, and I was proud to take her to a place where she could interact with animals in a way that was meaningful—but not harmful.
Lek Chailert, the founder, continues to be a leading voice for elephant welfare in Thailand and beyond. Unlike traditional elephant tourism operations, ENP does not allow riding, tricks, or shows. Instead, visitors observe elephants being elephants—wandering, bathing, foraging, and occasionally doing something ridiculous in the mud.
This post is exactly as she wrote it at 11 years old, but I think her ideas—about rewilding, about kindness, and about doing something even if you’re small—hold up incredibly well.
If you’re thinking about visiting ENP, here’s the official site for up-to-date info and bookings:
🔗 https://www.elephantnaturepark.org