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View all Krabi toursAo Nang Elephant Sanctuary: Feed and Cook for Rescued Herds in Krabi
Prepare food, hand-feed and spend unhurried time with rescued elephants at an ethical Ao Nang sanctuary where no riding and no shows are ever on the programme.
Highlights
- Hand-feed rescued elephants sugarcane, fruit and rice balls
- Help prepare supplement food in the sanctuary kitchen
- Hear each elephant's individual rescue story
- Strictly no riding, no chains and no performances
- Small groups for calm, unhurried encounters
Full description
Every elephant here arrived from somewhere harder: logging camps, trekking outfits, street begging in tourist towns. The sanctuary buys or takes them in and lets them live as elephants do, which means no riding, no chains during the day and no circus tricks. Your visit funds the food bill, and it is a substantial one.
The session opens in the outdoor kitchen where you help make the herd's supplements, mashing bananas, rice and tamarind into fist-sized balls under the direction of the keepers. It sounds simple; it is also the moment the visit stops being a viewing and becomes participation. You then walk out to the feeding platform to hand those over, along with sugarcane and pineapple, while a keeper introduces each animal by name and tells you where she came from.
The rest of the time is spent simply being near them as they graze. Guides explain herd hierarchy and what ethical care actually costs. Short, honest and genuinely moving.
Tour Itinerary
The schedule below is a suggested plan and can be adjusted to suit your preferences.
Pickup and arrival
Transfer from your Ao Nang hotel to the sanctuary and check in at reception.
Welcome and safety talk
Change into sanctuary clothing and learn how to approach the elephants respectfully.
Cook elephant supplements
Mash bananas, rice and tamarind into feeding balls alongside the keepers.
Feeding and time with the herd
Hand-feed the elephants and hear their rescue stories while they graze nearby.
Return transfer
Wash up and ride back to your hotel in Ao Nang.
Detailed Itinerary
Morning visits collect you around 09:00 and reach the sanctuary in about twenty-five minutes on the road behind Ao Nang. Check-in is quick: you swap into a sanctuary shirt, stow your bag and sit through a short talk on how to stand, where not to walk and why the animals are never made to perform.
By 09:40 you are in the open kitchen, mashing steamed rice, bananas and tamarind into feeding balls. The keepers work alongside you and use the time to explain each elephant's history and dietary needs. At around 10:05 you carry the food out to the feeding area and hand it over piece by piece, with sugarcane and pineapple for the ones with a sweeter tooth.
The final stretch is unstructured and better for it: standing at a respectful distance while the herd grazes, asking questions, taking photographs. Departure is around 10:45 with a hotel drop-off shortly after 11:00.
Includes
- Sanctuary entrance and conservation fee
- English-speaking keeper guide
- Elephant food and cooking ingredients
- Drinking water
- Hotel transfer from central Ao Nang
- Insurance
Excludes
- Meals for guests
- Professional photos
- Donations to the sanctuary
- Tips
Important information
Meeting point
Ao Nang Elephant Sanctuary reception, with transfers from Ao Nang hotels
Know before you go
- Free cancellation available up to 24 hours before the activity starts
About this activity
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Traveler Reviews
We made the food ourselves, sticky rice balls with tamarind and banana, then fed the herd by hand. No riding, no shows, no bullhooks anywhere on the property. The mahouts told us each elephant's history, including one rescued from a logging camp.
Ninety minutes of unhurried time with four elephants, and unhurried is the key word. They eat slowly and you just stand there feeding them and listening. My daughter has not stopped talking about the baby of the group.
The staff were clear that the elephants set the pace and if one wandered off we let it go. That honesty was reassuring after reading about the bad places. Close to Ao Nang so the transfer was only about twenty five minutes.
A good, ethical operation and the food preparation part was more engaging than I expected. It is fifty dollars for an hour and a half, so the value depends on how much this matters to you. For us it did.
Feeding an elephant by hand while it works out whether you have more bananas hidden is very funny. They gave us proper hygiene instructions and a wash station afterwards. Small group, only ten people.
No bathing at this one, it is feeding and time with the herd, which suited us in the heat. The sanctuary is up a dirt road in the hills behind Ao Nang and the setting is beautiful. Wear closed shoes, the ground is uneven.