Thailand wheelchair accessible tour

Planet

Elephant Haven is a sanctuary for retired elephants and elephants rescued from captivity where they had been employed in illegal logging or were kept in cruel or unhealthy conditions, cramped housing, poor nutrition, no medical care. It provides a safe haven for them during the remainder of their lives where they can enjoy freedom to live in natural surroundings and receive the best of care, with a healthy diet, medical attention and the company of their own species. It gives visitors the opportunity to see captive elephants in somethings that approximates to their natural environment and where they can learn something about their care and upkeep, social structure and way of life.

The Haven also has the dual purpose in that it protects some 20 acres of natural habit in an area that has already seen a lot of building development, for tourism and housing, and being only 30 miles from Kanchanaburi Town, would otherwise be very vulnerable.
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People

By supporting communities that are trying hard preserve their natural environment and their traditional way of life, and by working in a genuine partnership with them, we give them valuable encouragement and support in their aims. By paying them a fair price for the services that they provide for our clients, we boost the local economy and the additional local employment tourism creates can perhaps help keep families together. More employment at home means less need to migrate to the cities to find work in factories, building sites or as domestic servants. Overseas visitors can also provide the encouragement to preserve their traditional cultural practices. If small communities see that many people will travel halfway round the world to visit them and learn about their way of life, then perhaps some of the old ways are worth keeping after all. We don’t ask communities to put on special dancing shows for our guests, or to wear traditional costumes to welcome them, we encourage them only to preserve their traditions for their own sake and for the sake of their children and grandchildren. Of course, our clients will be welcome to join in any traditional celebrations that happen to be taking place at the time they visit. We also give support to local people everywhere in a general way by encouraging our clients to buy from local markets and family run shops, not supermarkets and convenience store chains, to buy local handicrafts for souvenirs and eat in local restaurants.

On this tour meals are taken in street markets and local family-run restaurants, where possible we use locally-owned hotels which can provide the special facilities required, for example the Krungsri River in Ayutthaya and thr Plakan Resort in Kanchanaburi. We also include a traditional Thai massage at a massage parlor, owned and staffed by local blind masseuses.