Dutch tour operators have already removed elephant rides from the list

Just a bat in the chicken coop: Why no more elephant rides?

Are all those elephant reserves (or whatever you want to call them) wrong then? If so, the elephants must be released immediately. See what happens then.

I have been to various camps/reserves and have never seen any abuse. Would like to hear who has other experiences, but substantiated and not with "goat wool socks arguments".

In February I went to the elephant camp in Mae Taeng, as the lady who was on holiday with us wanted to do the elephant ride, so I reluctantly went with her.
Must confess that I later regretted it and it was also the last time to do it this way.
A few years ago you could still visit this camp quietly and the elephants could rest after a ride.
Unfortunately, everything has been renovated and it looks like an amusement park. When you enter and book the trip with the elephant/ox cart and on a bamboo raft, you get a butt with a time indication taped to your chest and you have to keep an eye on the time.
If the elephant ride is over and you want to sit down before you sit on the bullock cart you can't because you have to go with the pack as the next group is already arriving.
If you see what happens to young elephants on videos, I would still consider ignoring these camps.
If you drive past this camp, you will come across a few small camps where the animals are treated well and it is not a circus around it.

Take a ride with this amazing animal.
My wife and I regularly go up north for elephant rides through the forest.
Fantastic.
In the past, they had to use 70-90% of their forces for, among other things, tree towing work.
Now good care (most of the managers) friendly people around them with extra food which is a. healthy for them, and b. tasty.
Now they need to use 25% of their powers.

BUT… maybe this action is a signal to that small section of administrators that sometimes go wrong.

Incidentally, it says a lot about the organization WAP, if you offer a petition to the Thomas Cook Group, while they have already taken action.

Well they do.
We know the managers of 'our' park, and it is a pleasure, and experience for humans and animals.
We come there regularly. NEVER seen 1 abuse. On the contrary.

KhunBram.

Dear people,

I regularly work as a volunteer in an ElephantsWorld, a sanctuary for old and sick elephants near Kanchanaburi. Despite the fact that elephants look strong, they can only bear a maximum of 100 kg on their back. A bowl on which one sits already weighs 50 kg….plus 2 to 4 adults….do the math. In ElephantsWorld there are elephants who have worked in trekking camps. The backs of these animals are fused together, it is unnatural. In a trekking camp they don't get enough to eat because they have to carry tourists around all day. Some have to work until they drop dead (which happens regularly, just google it) or until a very old age. I've seen and read so much misery about elephants being abused to give tourists a nice day, it's just sad. If you still want to see an elephant up close, go to a responsible reserve such as ElephantsWorld. There are more such reserves throughout Thailand . Indeed, these elephants can no longer be returned to the wild and also need food, which is why they are taken care of in these kinds of reserves where tourists can admire them in a responsible way. in the end, of course, I sincerely hope that these kinds of reserves will no longer be necessary, because the elephants will then only live in the wild and will be left alone by us humans

There are of course always a number of people who do not recognize animal suffering.
Most likely fall under the same category that people do not recognize suffering.
Color