"Every adventure needs a tragic love story,” begins our Elephant Hills guide Chris, as he stands at the front of a kitted out safari truck as we travel the roads away from Phuket. Ahead is a bridge, and we are instructed to hold our breath for the journey over to pay homage to a local legend of lovers who drowned in the river below.

The thing is, the tragic love story could be used to describe Thailand’s relationship with the Asian elephant. Many tourists come back with photos of elephant rides, elephant safaris and elephant swims. On a wider scale there are also monkey shows and tiger temples. It’s fair to say that the animal’s welfare is not at the forefront of these operations.

My previous experience with an elephant was in India, where the majestic animal was pulled about with chains and prodded with a bull hook in order to be coerced into rides. I wasn’t allowed to get close or interact but the look in the animal’s eyes was enough for me to know that its spirit was broken. 

So it is with trepidation that I come to experience another elephant encounter. The custom-made safari truck has panorama windows, air conditioning and a fragrance more familiarly found in a Thai spa. Safari, in Thailand, you say? While we never go cross-country in the vehicle, the affiliation is based on the elephants we are about to see. Unlike your usual safari, a sighting is guaranteed at Elephant Hills. And it is with joy when I hear Chris’ continued commentary. 

“Elephant riding is not the best thing for an elephant.” No riding today then. “In my opinion you can look the elephant in the eye and see if it smiles or is sad. You can also see the marks in the skin from the hook,” Chris says. 

Elephant Hills’ story is proof that a shift in attitude is beginning to take hold in Thailand’s tourism industry. Until 2010 the centre offered elephant rides. When they introduced the interactive encounter that remains today, the idea was new and the feedback was positive. Participants reported that the encounter was authentic and more respectful. 

The ethical issue is where the elephants came from originally. In 1989 there was a glut of elephants abandoned or with owners unable to afford food due to a ban on elephants in the logging industry. Elephant Hills took on these elephants and their mahouts (handlers).

“We would never take a wild elephant out of the jungle to domesticate it. That would be a very stupid thing to do,” Chris says. The story of the mahouts is just as affirming. They would have lost their livelihood without Elephant Hills. The mahoutshere hail from a tribe in the north west of Thailand that has a long mahout tradition.

It is a job that the father hands down to the son. One of the mahouts has a two-year old son who already has an affinity with the mahout’s charge, sitting on the elephant as naturally as a child would ride a tricycle. It is a lifelong commitment often compared to a marriage. While one mahout can handle up to four elephants, Elephant Hills prefers to have one mahout per animal. The mahouts live in huts on site and are close enough to their elephant to respond to their moods. If the elephant isn’t well, they won’t be used to meet guests that day.

There are four elephants out of a cohort of fourteen to interact with on the day I visit. The mahouts are dressed in chili red as they guide the elephants to swim, feed and bathe. It appears effortless but the mahouts command the elephants with a series of deft movements.

A hose is handed over and we are put to work on the two elephants in need of a scrub down. With such thick hoary skin it’s hard to imagine that I am having any effect beyond tickling, so I stick to the hose. My elephant, Kae Dang, has a fondness for putting the hose down her trunk. I point the water straight in and, like a syringe, she sucks it up.

At mealtime, she is not as easily pleased. The group and I spend time chopping pineapples, sugar cane, grass and bananas with an axe and depositing it into a bucket for her perusal. The thing is, the elephants are incredibly fussy. One only eats pineapple and the other eats green bananas but rejects the yellow ones. As for the healthy tamarind, which we disguise by coating it with grains and fruit, they spit it out every time. 

Kae Dang will only eat the green shoots and bananas, throwing everything else into a pile by her feet. When I turn around, her trunk reaches out to snake through the bucket looking for her favourite. The elephant standing between the others acts like a typical middle child and snatches food from the others – she, apparently, has no dietary discretion.

It is such a joy to see the personality of the individuals emerge as well as be schooled in just how well-fed and downright spoiled they are.

Then there is the baby of the group, Haha. This little guy, set to celebrate his second birthday the week after our arrival, steals the show. He clambers up to receive treats and makes a whistling sound comparable to blowing raspberries with no discernible intent.

Elephant Hills is now branching into conservation with a breeding program propelled by the fact that only 2000 elephants exist in the wild in Thailand. A male bull is rented for his virility but the business doesn’t always come naturally, with females confused at the procedural requirements of mating. To add to the bond between mahout and elephant, the mahout must be present to instruct and manoeuvre the elephants into position. Elephant porn is mentioned. It seems the love story is not looking so tragic after all.