Phuket    

With this little island being such a tourist hotspot, it was unsurprising to find a whole host of offerings for elephant attractions. Almost every road we went down there would be advertisements of some sort for the many different attractions they had. From rides to photo props, small shows and circuses, we didn’t have to look far to find animals being used for tourism.

We started our journey at the top of the Big Buddha for this is where a lot of the adverts where we were staying pointed us too. Riding up there were posters and signs all along the road advertising the various elephant camps you could visit just on this one hill. As I made my way down, I was shocked to see these trekking camps right on the road, two existing right next to each other. Both with queues of people eager to ride an elephant. The animals wouldn't get a break, they would drop customers off, and then immediately pick up more. These animals will repeat this process nearly all day every day for as long as the demand is there and in places like Phuket, the demand is certainly there. 

Further down the road were more attractions, these offering things like bathing and feeding, but these were more hidden away, only accessible if you paid the fee. But these places all had elephants chained up outside, often babies, to help attract the tourists. 

As we reached the bottom of the road we were greeted by another unpleasant sight, a tiger temple. Another form of wildlife exploitation that is commonly found across Thailand. 

As well as the journey down the hill, we visited another camp where again you could see all that was happening. A baby elephant was chained up outside, whilst older elephants were walking laps whilst being ridden inside.