The three Pattaya elephant sanctuaries with no riding and no shows, ranked by welfare, with what you do at each, the operator's own half-day price and the camps to skip.
Pattaya has plenty of elephant camps and only three sanctuaries I'd send you to. None of them offers riding or shows. At Pattaya Elephant Sanctuary you feed and walk with a small herd and watch them bathe, and at Living Green and Elephant Jungle Sanctuary the visit is hands-on, with water time or pool bathing.
No sanctuary near Pattaya is on World Animal Protection's elephant-friendly list, so the order starts with the next question, whether visitors bathe the elephants, and then Responsible Travel's support. Prices are each operator's own adult rate, and Pattaya Elephant Sanctuary's price pages are several months old, so confirm when you book. Elephant Jungle Sanctuary is a paying sponsor of this site, and its place follows the same criteria.
Skip Pattaya Elephant Village, which Responsible Travel says offers rides and uses hooks, and the elephant show at Nong Nooch. The names are close, and Pattaya Elephant Sanctuary is a different business from Pattaya Elephant Village.
Best if you'd rather watch than touch. A small herd in Bang Saray, south of Pattaya, with no riding, shows or bullhooks. You prepare food and feed the elephants, walk with them on jungle trails, then watch them bathe. The half day is ฿2,800 at 09:30 or 14:00, with pickup from Naklua to Na Jomtien and a vegetarian buffet.
Supported by Responsible Travel. Living Green's Chonburi sanctuary at Khao Khiew is about 40 minutes from central Pattaya, with feeding, a walk to a viewpoint and water time with the elephants. The half day is ฿2,200 with Pattaya hotel pickup, morning or afternoon.
The most hands-on. Feeding, a mud spa and pool bathing in Khao Mai Kaew, with a 3-hour half day from ฿2,900 including a Thai buffet and pickup in Pattaya and Jomtien, or the 1-hour Feed Me visit from ฿900. ACES rates it Gold. Responsible Travel doesn't support the group's Chiang Mai and Phuket camps but says the Pattaya site seems to treat its few elephants well. Elephant Jungle Sanctuary is a paying sponsor of this site, and its place follows the same criteria.
Where to stay
My pick at each price level in Pattaya, going by Google's hotel class. Hotels from my ranked list of the 10 best come first, then the best-reviewed. Each button opens the hotel on Booking.com with your dates filled in.
#1Luxury · 5-star
Arbour Hotel and Residence Pattaya4.9 (12,604 reviews)
A highly regarded Pattaya hotel offering spacious rooms with kitchenettes, a rooftop pool, spa, and restaurant.
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Klook's best-reviewed Pattaya tours, with today's prices. Most cancel free up to 24 hours ahead.
Pattaya Elephant Sanctuary in Bang Saray, where visitors feed and walk with a herd of three and watch them bathe rather than bathe them, with no riding, shows or bullhooks. Living Green at Khao Khiew is the one Responsible Travel supports, and it adds water time with the elephants.
It doesn't offer riding, and ACES, an industry standard that allows hands-on programs, rates it Gold. Its programs include a mud spa and pool bathing, it isn't on World Animal Protection's list, and Responsible Travel doesn't support the group's Chiang Mai and Phuket camps while saying the Pattaya site seems to treat its few elephants well. Elephant Jungle Sanctuary is a paying sponsor of this site, which doesn't change that answer.
Half days are ฿2,200 to ฿2,900 with hotel pickup. Living Green is ฿2,200, Pattaya Elephant Sanctuary ฿2,800 with a vegetarian buffet, and Elephant Jungle Sanctuary from ฿2,900 with a Thai buffet. Elephant Jungle Sanctuary's 1-hour Feed Me visit is from ฿900.
Some camps still sell rides, including Pattaya Elephant Village, but none of the three sanctuaries here does. A camp that sells rides, shows or painting isn't a sanctuary, whatever its name says.
All three pick you up from your hotel. Elephant Jungle Sanctuary is inland at Khao Mai Kaew, Pattaya Elephant Sanctuary is in Bang Saray to the south, and Living Green is about 40 minutes away at Khao Khiew.
Yes. Living Green and Elephant Jungle Sanctuary both sell programs from Bangkok with transfers, and my list of the elephant sanctuaries near Bangkok ranks them alongside Kanchanaburi and the city's own Bangkok Elephant Park.
