Southeast Asia - Clean Breaks: 500 New Ways to See the World - page 295

396 givE an ElEphant a Bath,
thailand

north of the country, which will give even more
elephants a better life and the opportunity to
breed. For now, however, for anyone wanting to
see more than the back of a pachyderm's head,
Elephant Hills offers the best and most humane
experience in Thailand.

Elephants and tourism have typically presented
an uneasy mix in Asia: riding elephants is
a unique experience but many visitors are
understandably uncomfortable about seeing
these mighty creatures reduced to pack animals.
On the Elephant
Experience at
Elephant Hills,
a luxury tented
lodge on the edge
of Thailand's Khao
Sok National
Park, guests can
do far more than
on the usual
elephant trek
offered elsewhere.
As well as hosing
and scrubbing
inside the folds
of the elephants'
skin, you'll prepare
their food and feed
them, learn how
they and their
mahouts (trainers)
communicate, and
then watch them
playing together
in the pool. It's
exhilarating and humbling to be so close to such
mighty creatures, who love being washed and
often respond with a delighted squirt of water
from their trunk.
While most people would prefer that these
creatures were truly wild, for two-thirds of the
three thousand Asian elephants left this isn't
currently feasible: they have worked in the
logging or tourism industries all their lives
and wouldn't survive independently. As well
as giving more dignified lives to the fifteen
or so elephants at its camp, Elephant Hills
is establishing an elephant sanctuary in the

A mahout sitting atop his
beloved elephant at Elephant
Hills

Need to know Stays of two to four days are
available at the lodge. Other activities on offer
include kayaking, a boat trip and a visit to the
mangrove swamps. Staff will pick you up from
Surat Thani, Phuket and Ranong. For package
details, rates and reservations see W www.elephant-
hills.com; T [phone].

397 common sEnsE lUxUry,
thailand

It's not often a five-star hotel offers to show
guests the rubbish dump. Normally it would be
more likely to flaunt its infinity pool, its luxury
organic spa or the restaurant with a view out
over the sea. And Evason Phuket has got all of
those. It's just that the hotel is more proud of
its award-winning ecotrail around its grounds
showcasing its many environmental initiatives,
of which the compost and recycling centre is
just a part.
Of course you could happily stay here and
remain completely unaware that the world's
first commercial biomass reactor is powering
the air-conditioning system. Most guests are
perfectly oblivious, as almost all the initiatives
being put in place to make the hotel carbon
neutral by 2020 take place behind the scenes.
Few visitors leave knowing that much of the food
they ate was grown organically on site, or that
the water is recycled into the gardens filled with
indigenous plants and herbs.
But it's not all hidden from view. A few metres
out from the shore of the hotel's private island
lie some of the best-preserved corals in Thailand.
But because they want to keep them that way,
staff explain to guests that they can only snorkel
there at high tide. So, if you want do more than