Elephant's Caretaker Assistant

If you wish to volunteer ethically with elephants, and wish to know more about them, the problems they face and you want to be part of the solution, the Thailand Elephant Project is the place to volunteer. The forested land around the rescue centre gives rescued elephants the chance to roam around in near natural surroundings. Large pieces of land have been purchased to make these forests and grasslands their home. The large elephant enclosures, up to 5 hectares each, with natural trees, lakes and grazing areas allow the elephants space to move around and socialise with other elephants. No elephant is ever chained up, day or night.

Thailand is home to both populations of wild and domesticated populations of the Asian elephant. The domestic population is sadly made up of animals that have been caught from the wild or bred in captivity. These animals have been trained/broken to live and work in the tourist or logging industry. Today, Thailand’s wild population elephant population is struggling for survival. The wild elephant population of Thailand is estimated at 2200 individuals, that live in open grasslands and dense rainforests spread over the country. Historically, domestic elephants have been used predominantly in the logging industry, ironically and unwillingly helping to destroy the very habitat they rely on to survive.

After the ban on logging in 1989, most of the logging elephants ended up being used within the tourist industry or have been used to make a living by begging on the streets of big cities. Walking day and night on these dirty and traffic-congested streets is detrimental to the elephant’s health, and unnatural. Street begging elephants often end up being involved in road traffic accidents, with fatalities commonly occurring for both the elephant and the mahout.

Unfortunately, in Thailand, there are currently no laws to prevent this abuse and mistreatment. Therefore there is an urgent need to help these animals. This is where our volunteers come in. This sanctuary has been created for elephants to retire and be given the respect these amazing creatures deserve. When volunteering with elephants, you will be taught everything you need to know about the care of these captivating creatures. You will work hands-on with the elephants, washing them, feeding them, cleaning and maintaining their enclosures, and going out to collect food for them.

When selecting travel insurance for your trip please ensure your policy covers you for working with elephants. Our PMGY Elephant Policy will provide you with this level of cover and is 50% more expensive than our standard policy. This can either be selected during the online application process or can be added at a later date.

Typical duties for the volunteers include feeding the elephants, cleaning their enclosures, washing the elephants, walking the elephants to the forest, creating enrichments, maintaining enclosures, pools and mud baths, harvesting plant matter, including banana trees and grasses.

The working day starts at 6:30am at the Volunteer House. The Volunteer House is where all organisation and orientation of volunteers is based. Volunteers will normally finish work around 5pm, with several breaks throughout the day for breakfast, lunch and water and toilet breaks. Volunteers are expected to work 6 days a week with one day off. The work is very physically and mentally demanding but the end result is always well worth it.

Volunteers will be assigned to work groups each day by the volunteer coordinators, and work with team leaders who are longer-term experienced volunteers who assist and guide their teams throughout daily tasks. Each person has their own pace, their own strengths and weaknesses. You are kindly asked to respect that not everyone has the same abilities and may work at a different pace to yourself. Everyone is here to help the animals and makes their contribution in their own way.

All volunteers during their time will be asked to assist in additional tasks to help us run the Volunteer House such as House Duty and Doggie Duty. Typically, two people per day are chosen to help with each. House Duty involves ensuring all volunteer areas are kept tidy each day and some common housework is completed. Doggie Duty involves caring for some of the dogs that live at the volunteer house. This involves washings, feeding and walking the dogs.

PMGY volunteers are based in the suburbs of Bangkok, Thailand’s bustling capital city. It’s a city of contrasts. Modern yet cultural, chaotic, traditional and bizarre – you will never get bored in Bangkok we can assure you of that!

Here air conditioned megamalls sit side-by-side with 200-year-old village homes; gold-spired Buddhist temples share space with neon-lit, bar lined strips; slow-moving traffic bypassed by long-tail boats plying the royal river; and streets lined with food carts are overlooked by restaurants on top of skyscrapers.

The great thing about Bangkok is although it is pretty vast, getting around is simple, fast and affordable with the BTS (inner city rail network). Which also means the great nightlife is easy to get to too whether its backpacker central on Koh San Road or catching some great live music at one of the cool bars near Victory Monument.