Elephants near BKK?
 

Hi,

Anyone know if there is anywhere near BKK where one may ride an elephant? I've ridden horses, a donkey and a dromedary. I'd like to sit on an elephant :)

Thanks much,
Kymm

Ok I have to ask cuz I know a lot of people out there -including myself- have no clue- what is a dromedary?

The Rose Garden offers elephant rides. Maybe it's an hour from Bangkok. We didn't go, but saw an ad for it.

Soi 4 in BKK had a mahout with his elephant right on the street. For a price, you could probably hop on. But he does not have any schedule so it is just hit and miss. I doubt that you want to hang around soi 4 waiting.

On the other hand, I have also seen a mahout and an elephant at the front entrance to Gaysorn Plaza, right in the downtown shopping area of Bangkok!

Can't help you with actual elephant rides near BKK.

For what it's worth, and it has been mentioned here before, opt for the shortest ride you can get IMO because it is a very hard seat and not a very comfortable ride. We had a choice on Phuket between 20 minutes, 30 minutes, and 2 hours. We asked the difference between 20 and 30 minute rides. It was the "view" at the top of a hill, so we took the 30 minute. But we wished we had opted for the 20 minute about 5 minutes into the ride! LOL

Another friend tells of an elephant trek experience that always has us rolling in the aisles. His trek was for about 5-6 hours and ended up in the middle of nowhere. At the end of the trek, they were picked up in a wooden wagon for yet another uncomfortable ride back to camp!!

Bill... a dromedary is similar to a camel

Carol

There is also a guy who works the street from Bed Supper club to Sukhumvit. "Eddie" is the elephant, but he's probably "karl" if you're german. He charges 20 baht for a bag of corn to feed "Eddie". As we were half thru the bag, the mahout gave my other daughter a bag of corn. Seemed like a nice gesture, till it was all gone, then he demanded 20 baht more!
I'm sure he'd let you sit on eddie for a price.

it is illegal i believe to have elephants within the confines of bkk...this is not observed and i saw quite a few at nite time around the tourist areas...

i think you are looking for an organized center however...jamesA will be the best authority on that

kymm:
When we were in BKK in Feb. Ratt our driver took us to:

Samphran Elephant Ground & Zoo Just only 1 kilometre before the Rose Garden, this 60-acre farm is another interesting attraction housing many different wild animals and thousands of crocodiles. Fascinating performances such as Crocodile Wrestling, Magic Show, and Elephant Theme Show commence everyday at 12.45 p.m. and 2.20 p.m. with additional shows on Sundays at 10.30 a.m.

Open: Daily from 8.00 a.m.-5.30 p.m.
Admission: Adult 350 baht; Child 250 baht
www.elephantshow.com

The shows were really good and they do have elephant rides for 1 hour at I think 12.50 US per person. Don't go to the Rose Garden I hear it's not worth it.
Aloha!

Rose garden as said or if you want to mix with other sights then River Kwai, couple of hours, I did a post yesterday under the heading about treks in other places.