WFFT elephants are among the most remarkable animals on the Dragon Study Tours Elephant Conservation Experience programme — and the encounter that closes the most important loop of the entire fortnight. Closed groups aged 13 to 17 spend seven morning sessions working with the rescued elephants at the Hutsadin Elephant Foundation in Hua Hin. Then, on the full day at Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand near Phetchaburi, they encounter WFFT elephants in a completely different setting — a large-scale elephant refuge that is one of the most significant captive elephant operations in Southeast Asia. Running all year round.
Who the WFFT Elephants Are
The WFFT elephants number 23 at the Phetchaburi sanctuary — all of them domesticated Asian elephants that have come from backgrounds of exploitation and suffering. The WFFT elephants were domesticated through a process called phajaan — a traditional breaking process that involves separating calves from their mothers and using confinement and pain to break their resistance to human control. All 23 WFFT elephants were subjected to this process as babies. And all 23 now live out their lives in large enclosures of up to 44 acres, with natural trees, lakes, and grazing areas — as close to a natural environment as captivity allows.
The WFFT elephants include animals rescued from street begging in Bangkok and other Thai cities, from tourist trekking camps, from logging operations, and from entertainment venues. Their individual stories are as varied as their personalities — and the WFFT guides who lead Dragon Study Tours groups through the elephant refuge know those stories in extraordinary detail.
What Participants Do and See With the WFFT Elephants
The WFFT elephant experience on the Dragon Study Tours full day differs from the Hutsadin sessions in important ways. While Hutsadin offers seven sessions of direct, working involvement in daily care routines, the WFFT elephant experience gives groups access to a much larger operation — 23 elephants across multiple large enclosures — with a safari bus tour through the Newlands Area in the afternoon, where WFFT elephants, bears, and other animals can be observed in their spacious natural habitats.
Participants assist with the morning elephant feeding rounds — experiencing the sheer scale of providing adequate nutrition to a large group of WFFT elephants — and receive a detailed education session on the history of the WFFT elephant refuge, the phajaan process, and what captive elephant welfare at scale actually involves.
How the WFFT Elephants Connect to the Hutsadin Experience
The WFFT elephants provide a crucial counterpoint to the Hutsadin experience. Where Hutsadin is intimate — a small number of animals with whom participants develop genuine individual relationships — the WFFT elephant refuge gives groups a sense of the scale of Thailand’s captive elephant challenge. Over 3,700 captive Asian elephants in Thailand. Twenty-three of them at WFFT. A handful of them at Hutsadin. And the conservation work that connects all of them.
Safety at the WFFT Elephants Session
All aspects of the WFFT full day, including the elephant sessions, are managed within the full Dragon Study Tours safety framework. Transport is by private air-conditioned coach. The Palm Residence provides 24/7 supervision and safeguarding procedures aligned to British Council accreditation standards.
The programme runs all year round for closed groups. Visit our 50 things to do in Hua Hin guide, request a quote, make a booking, or read our FAQ.
