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My wife and I went on the half day elephant trek in Khao Lak.We saw a waterfall before going to the elephant trek. The waterfall was pretty but not too much to see. At the time of our visit, there hadn't been much rain so the waterfalls were lacking compared to usual apparently.We stayed at the waterfalls for around 30 mins before heading off for around 15 mins to the elephant trek.We were in minibus with two other couples, so six people in total.Once we arrived at the elephant trek we got straight to it, and got onto the elephants.Each elephant has a seat strapped on top, which seems reasonable secure. At least as secure as a seat is ever going to be on top of an elephant! The elephants were pretty easy to get onto as there is a custom stand that the elephants stand along so you can side step on.Once my wife and I were on our elephant, we made way following one of the couples in front.We went out as a group of three (we were in the middle). We headed off down a single lane dirt track which was reasonably shaded.The elephants did appear tired to us, and this was in the morning, and think we were only the second or third outing for the elephants.After a short time the elephant in front decided to side step to pay some interest into some elephant poo. The "keeper" who was in charge of this elephant shouted at the elephant and grabbed some of the poo from the floor and rubbed it into its face/mouth. The elephant then decide to continue on as normal, the elephant looked a bit upset by this. The three keepers were all talking Thai and appeared to find this really funny.My wife and I are great animal lovers and we were unsure what to think of this situation. Is this normally how a elephant should be corrected when it's done wrong? Maybe it is... Strange way to do it though.We continued on down a track where the keepers took our cameras and took photos of us, which was nice.After around 30 mins we turned around and all headed back.To us it seemed the elephants were slapped with a bamboo stick where at times it didn't seem necessary. ie our elephant was walking on, on the track. It hadn't stopped or gone off route. The keepers seem to also not paying too much attention. One elephant was around 20 metres ahead of us while his keeper was talking to ours. They were all very casual, and maybe this is fine, but it's a new daunting experience for us so I guess we were more on edge.We would like to be clear by saying we do not know how a elephant should be treated but with this going on and the poo incident we felt uncomfortable and bad that we had paid for such excursion.We would also like to state the elephants looked well. They didn't seem unhappy etc.Once we got back we paid for some pineapples and fed our elephant. This was really nice and allowed us to touch our elephant and thank it appropriately.After this we had a drink and some pineapple. The booking stated we would get lunch, but a few pieces of pineapple we wouldn't classify as really lunch. The tour also allowed us to buy two photos that they took of us for 350 baht, which we bought. Apparently the money goes towards the elephants medical bills.We then headed back to our hotel.Our guide was "Nimm". She was really good.Overall we enjoyed the tour but at times wondered about the elephants welfare based on the above comments.

Wir können diese Tour nur empfehlen, vor allem wenn sie aufgrund von Ebbe und Flut sehr früh losgeht. Dann sieht man nämlich die Bucht auch mal ohne die Touristen und die kanutouren durch die verschiedenen Höhlen und Seen waren ruhig und beschaulich. Positiv zu erwähnen war auch die kleinere Gruppe und das individuellere Essen mit Bedienung im Restaurant statt Tröge und Massenabfertigung. Danke für den schönen Tag. Perfekt wäre er mit ein wenig mehr Informationen durch den deutschsprechenden Reiseleiter. Er war eher Organisator als informativ

Vi er lige kommet retur efter to dage (og en overnatning) på Khao Sok. Turen var fantastisk, og selvom vi fik set det hele, så var der ingen stress eller jag - Og Khao Sok er et helt magisk sted. Vi kan varmt anbefale firmaet, guiderne gik meget op i at give alle en god oplevelse og var med hele tiden (og bidrog med gode historier til hygge om aften).Vi kan varmt anbefale en tur med selskabet.

Nous avons passé une journée avec KLLD pour la découverte de la baie de Phang Nga. Le guide Hugues n'a pas été avare de commentaires, aussi bien sur la vie en Thaïlande, les coutumes, la religion, l'économie avec précision et humour. Nous avons traversé la baie pour aller au rocher "James Bond", puis fait une ballade en canoë, très touristique aussi mais très agréable, un repas très bon fait de plusieurs plats typiques, un temps libre pour visiter la ville sur pilotis de Kho Panyi, puis un temple bouddhiste. À chaque visite, chaque arrêt, des explications claires (en français et en anglais). Cette journée m'a réconciliée avec les sorties organisées.

We went on two excusiona with Khao lak land discovery. We did the temple tour and the Elephant half a day. We loved both excusions and on both excusions we had dinner included. The restaurants we went to on both occasions were lovely and quiet but the food was incredible. I will deffinetly be using them again on my next visit.