Thailand, Cambodia and Laos 16 Days

14th November 2024

Here at Backpacker Tours, we are delighted to now be filling up with great new Backpacking tours and adventures and our state of the art new site Backpackertours.co.uk, will be live soon.

In the mean-time tours are live to book now and you you contact us at hello@backpackertours.co.uk or on our contact form or register interest for future tours. Book now for early bird discounts.

We are featuring many great tours from UK Day Tours, world trekking, on the beach and party tours, festivals, adventures, cruise and sail and coming soon Sports and Ski.

Today we feature one of our fabulous new tours – Thailand, Cambodia and Laos 16 Days – Backpacker Tours

To book this tour now or make an enquiry contact us at hello@backpackertours.co.uk. Book now for early bird discounts.

White Temple Chiang Rai Thailand, Wat Rong Khun, aka The White Temple, in Chiang Rai, Thailand.

Full tour details below, but first some brief information about Elephant Experiences/Conservation, Sangduen “Lek” Chailert co-founded Elephant Nature Park in Mae Taeng District, Chiang Mai province, northern Thailand, 60 kilometres (37 mi) from the city. Offshoot Erawan Elephant Retirement Park started in western Thailand in 2013. By 2016, there were branch parks in Surin and Cambodia, and a fifth in Phuket was planned. The Save Elephant Foundation coordinated the activity by then.

The parks house rescued elephants and charge tourists to visit and care for them, allowing them to stay for long durations.

History

This section needs updating. Update this article with recent events or information. October 2024 Lek Chailert began elephant conservation in 1996.In 1989, Thailand outlawed teak logging, which used many elephants, and those elephants were abandoned or sold for tourism or city begging.The ivory poachers also maim elephants.

The Thai government promoted ecotourism in Chiang Mai Province in the late 1990s. Tourism brought in 350 million dollars in 1997 and was the province’s greatest economic source, but indigenous people opposed the plans.

In 1998, Adam Flinn’s Green Tours developed Elephant Nature Park, a tourist destination and reserve for rescued elephants in a valley an hour north of Chiang Mai city,with Chailert, who owned some of the land and leased the remainder from the Thai government.The park had a daily elephant performance with skills including balancing on one leg and playing football, as well as elephant rides. Chailert kept “Elephant Heaven” on a nearby mountain for severely injured animals.The park had 34 rescued elephants. Chailert wanted to discontinue the performances and run it as a reserve.

Chailert was well recognised for lobbying against elephant crushing by 2002, when a documentary about elephant abuse in Thailand included her work. PETA demanded a boycott of the country until conditions ameliorated. Time magazine’s 2005 Asian post-tsunami issue named Chailert one of “Asia’s heroes”.The boycott campaign embarrassed the Thai government, led to death threats, and caused Friends of the Asian Elephant, a government-funded organisation that improved elephant welfare, to stop sponsoring her work. By 2005, Chailert had founded a Chiang Mai travel firm and rescued 17 adult elephants. At this point, the park no longer performed entertainment and instead let visitors to help care for the elephants. The park had 33 elephants in 2010 and charged $400/week for a month.

Elephant Aid International supported Elephant Nature Park in 2011 for mahout training, foot disease and stress reduction, diet, cleanliness, and exercise. In 2013, Erawan Elephant Retirement Park opened on 50 hectares of property along the River Kwai in western Thailand, an hour from Kanchanaburi, employing the same economic model as the previous park. One of the five elephants died in the first year. Elephant Nature Park had 37 elephants in 2014.

By 2016, Chailert had rescued 200 distressed elephants and had branch elephant parks in Surin and Cambodia, with plans to open a fifth in Phuket. The same folks run the Save Elephant Foundation, which coordinates that work. Through her Saddle Off! outreach effort, Chailert has persuaded numerous independent camps to enhance elephant life and ban tourists from riding them. Elephant Nature Park has elephants, dogs, cats, birds, and water buffaloes.

Elephant experience

Harry Potter Studio Tour

Details of our feature tour Thailand, Cambodia and Laos 16 Days – Backpacker Tours

Here are some sights and activities:

Explore the huge hall inside. Never-before-heard stories

Explore Professor Dumbledore’s™ office and uncover unparalleled riches.

Explore Diagon Alley™, home to Ollivanders, Flourish and Blotts, Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes, Gringotts, and Eeylops.

Go to Platform 9 ¾™ to ride the Hogwarts Express™.

Enter Gringotts Bank™

Check out Harry’s Nimbus 2000 and Hagrid’s motorbike from the flicks.

Explore iconic film sets like Gryffindor™ common room, boys’ dormitory, Hagrid’s hut, Potion’s classroom, and Professor Umbridge’s Ministry of Magic office.

Prices and to enquire or book – Thailand, Cambodia and Laos 16 Days – Backpacker Tours

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