After experiencing the wonder of First Class flights, we had a brief overnight stop at an airport hotel in Bangkok before being picked up at bang on 1000 for the 3 1/2 hour drive to Kaeng Krachan National Park. One thing I love about Thailand is their punctuality. If they say they’ll be there at 1000, they’ll be there at 1000, if not before!

It took about 45 minutes just to get out of the city and we made a quick toilet stop but the journey was straightforward, the roads are good quality and our driver wasn’t a maniac – which always helps! They drive on the left too so that’s reassuring for us Brits. The transfer was arranged by the same company we’d booked our tour of the national park with, which might not have been the cheapest but was the most convenient and reassuring. 

Travelling in Kaeng Krachan is a very authentic Thailand experience. Bangkokers visit on weekends and Thais come on holiday here. It’s not really geared to western tourists and very little is in English and not many staff speak much English. Google translate is your best mate! The national park and the hotel were very busy over the weekend and then were deserted come Monday. 

Luxury hotels aren’t easy to come by in this part of Thailand and I was a little nervous about what I was booking. With this being jungle as well, properties are incredibly hard to maintain and can be, well, pretty rustic. After a bit of research, I settled on Nana Resort, about 20 minutes drive from the entrance to the national park. 

Our deluxe jacuzzi room was spacious and comfortable although the jacuzzi didn’t get particularly hot and not having a separate shower meant sitting in the bath to use the shower. The large windows flooded the room with light but lacked privacy so we kept the curtains closed most of the time. Not that we were in the room much as we’re mostly out on safari. You can watch a walkthrough of the room here, make sure to give my page a like and follow for more reviews and trip reports in your feed!

We arrived at lunchtime and after checking in, settled in the room and had a wander around the resort. We had an 0600 pick up for our tour of the national park and were still adjusting to Thai time so it was an early dinner and bed. 

The meals at the hotel were spectacular. We’ve never had a bad meal anywhere in Thailand and Nabi Cafe was no exception. We loved every dish and the green curry especially was delicious and creamy. They really dialled up the spice which whilst fine going in, was a whole other level coming out!!! The desserts were also perfect, especially the honey toast which was plenty big enough for two! This being Thailand, a meal for 2 with main, dessert and a drink each was around 1000baht (£22). 

We only had 1 breakfast at the hotel as were out at the national park before breakfast started on most mornings, but it was decent enough if not pretty basic. They have the option of Asian, American and a la carte breakfast. We just had some fruit (cantaloupe and watermelon) and toast with jam. It was fine.

Of course, the reason for being here was the national park so our guide for the next two days, Mong, picked us up at 0600 sharp and we were on our way in an open backed pick up truck. 

The variety of wildlife at Kaeng Krachan is mind boggling. The park is well known as a hot spot for birders and our first day in the park was mostly spent spotting different types of exotic birds and learning all about them. How Mong and his driver spotted some of the animals, I’ll never know! We saw hornbills, eagles, owls, woodpeckers and thousands of butterflies – literally swarming and fluttering about, it was magical! We didn’t bring any specialist equipment but Mong had an attachment for his monocular which you attach your phone to and take pictures and videos, which allowed me to get some great shots of the animals. Typically, as soon as we got everything set up, the animals flew or ran away! 

It’s not just about birds, and we were able to see various species of monkeys swinging around in the trees; langur monkeys with their bright orange babies and macaques crossing the road. Hearing the gibbons call and sing to each other was incredible! 

The national park is pretty much just one road with one way in and the same way out. There is a mountain viewpoint and getting to the top is not for the feint hearted! 

It’s barely a road, just a dirt track up the side of the mountain. It doesn’t have the sheer drops that some mountain roads have but it is bumpy as hell! And I mean bumpy! It takes a good hour to get to the top, and because the road is so narrow, there’s set times for going up and set times for going down. A few days before, Mong had spotted an old tortoise along the road and we managed to find him again, just munching on some grass!

The view from the top is spectacular and the birding opportunities are meant to be excellent, if that’s your thing, but for me, the journey up and down is so bone-rattlingly long, I wouldn’t go up more than once. The national park is home to a small number of sun bears, last spotted at the cafe at the top of the mountain so Mong was keen to take us up to see if we could spot the bear, but it wasn’t around. It’s also possible to see leopards at the side of the mountain road, but we weren’t lucky enough to see them either. 

When leaving the park, we saw a herd of samba dear but honestly, by this time, we’d been out for 12 hours and I was knackered! Time to head back to the hotel for a shower, dinner and bed!

Being so tired from all of the travelling over the past few days, we got picked up again at 0600 and I arranged with Mong that we’d have a shorter day and we’d like to try and spot more mammals. 

With that in mind, we went off piste, away from the main road and explored various watering holes on foot. It was awesome tiptoeing around the jungle whilst Mong pointed out birds and insects that we would have absolutely no idea were there had he not told us! 

The day before, a bull elephant had sauntered through the campsite and there was definite evidence of elephants in the area with big balls of their shit on the road, but we’d so far not been able to spot one. But then, as the 3 of us walked through the jungle, the other half glimpsed movement to his left, “elephant” he whispered!

And there he was, a lone bull elephant having a dust bath whilst giving us side eye through the trees. We kept stock still and a safe distance away. My heart was pounding out of my chest!

There’s 2 campsites on the park, and a cafe which sells some basic camping equipment. The meals are simple, absolutely delicious and cheap – a curry and rice dish around 60baht (£1.30). Bottles of pop, like sprite or coke, 25baht (55p). After the excitement of the elephant, we stopped for lunch and then trekked through the jungle some more. Mong took us on a death defying climb in to a cave to see if we could spot some snakes, but we only found bats – vampire bats!

As we’d settled on having a shorter day, and I was struggling to stay awake every time we got back on the truck, we started to make our way out of the park, but not before we saw a massive king cobra being steered away from the campsite! 

Overall, the tour was great but two 0530 starts after travelling from the UK was a bit much. I think I’d rather have a half day tour on the second day with either a later start or the early start and earlier return to the hotel to chill out. You need to be in the park early or late to increase chances of seeing animals whilst the weather is cooler but the days are long and in the heat, it’s quite tiring. 

Looking for a more relaxed pace, we were picked up by taxi and taken to our next wildlife adventure at I Love Phants Lodge.

Only about 30 minutes from Nana Resort, so an hour from Kaeng Krachan, we were greeted with an ice cold lemongrass drink, which I didn’t want to end; it was so delicious!

We settled in to our room which was all industrial dark woods and metal and I loved the black and grey colour scheme. The room overlooked the elephant paddock with gibbons swinging and singing in the background. The room felt a bit Alice in Wonderland as hot was cold and cold was hot on the shower, the air con was either freezing or freeeezing regardless of setting and there was only one mirror in the whole room, in the bathroom, but it was comfortable and we were happy with it. A walkthrough video of the room is available here.

The restaurant had a decent menu of Thai and western dishes and we enjoyed a lunch of stir fried pork and broccoli and chicken teriyaki. At dinner, we enjoyed a cocktail each before a meal of sweet n sour beef and beef massamam. Unfortunately, it was literally just us 2 in the restaurant so there was zero atmosphere. Even the staff went home before we’d finished eating and just left us with one lone lady who seemed to be around to lock up.

Seemingly, there’s 2 parts to the complex – 5 Mountain View rooms which are above the restaurant and a separate building with Forrest View rooms and another restaurant. All of the other guests in our building were a film crew who went out to film after their early dinner. So it was just me and other half, and the little Thai lady! 

I felt a little sad seeing the twinkly lights of the other restaurant in the distance and wondered if they were all having a nice time. Because the 2 buildings are separated by the animal reserve, you can’t walk between the 2 after 1700, so we were marooned by ourselves. Once we finished eating at about 1830, we had no choice but to go back to our room. The rooms also didn’t have a TV, which isn’t the end of the world (bring a book or some games to play) but it was all very anticlimactic. And the bar area is so beautifully designed, it would have been great to have a few drinks and speak to other people about their travels. 

Annoyingly, I’d originally booked a Forrest View room but the hotel got in touch to say it was available on the website by mistake and would we be happy in a Mountain View. I obviously didn’t know at the time that it would be just the 2 of us in the whole building!

For our second (and last) night, the crew, some other guests and even some of the volunteers from the rescue centre were in the restaurant having dinner and enjoying drinks. The atmosphere was great and we were treated to the most beautiful sunset. It made such a difference compared to the night before. This experience aside, and whilst I didn’t see inside the Forrest View rooms, I would definitely recommend booking a Forrest View room if you can, as the elephant enclosure goes much closer to the building. 

During our second day at the hotel, we did a tour of the animal rescue and rehabilitation centre. With over 900 animals from 60 species, Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand is one of the leading NGOs in Thailand. Since 2001, they have taken in animals rescued from zoos, tourist attractions, private owners and illegal breeders as well as injured wild animals. Only around 30% of the animals they rescue are able to be released back in to the wild, either because they’re too domesticated or too poorly. They also treat local pets, spay and neuter street dogs and cats and work with communities to better treat their animals. 

It’s mad to think that elephants are considered domestic animals in Thailand, like horses and cows. The 50,000 or so left in the wild have suffered 70% habitat loss, so there’s a lot of pressure on these precious animals. Some of the elephants didn’t get to the centre until they were way in to their 50s and some nearly 60, and it’s heartbreaking to think of them living lives of cruelty and hard labour for so many years. Their oldest elephant is 76! 

The sanctuary is home to tons of monkey species and especially macaques, the most hunted monkey species but also the centre’s most rehabilitated animals. Bandit, a 17 year macaque with no legs and only 1 arm, is a bad ass boss bitch and rules her roost. She’s been known to slap other monkeys across the face if they get out of line! 

The stories we were told about the lives these poor animals endured before coming to the sanctuary are devestating. One of the macaques had been so badly beaten with a brick he now has brain damage. Animals not designated as endangered in other countries can be imported and kept as pets, such as marmosets and iguanas. Once the animals grow and stop being cute or start getting aggressive, they’re often released in to the wild and are invasive species. Slow Lorris’, the only venomous primate, have their teeth pulled out so they can’t bite people – their owners or tourists paying for a photo op. An orangutan brought to the sanctuary by its owners after he got too big was brought in with human clothes, food and toys – he’d been raised as if he was a human boy. In some cultures, animals are bred for their body parts. How does bear paw soup sound to you? The centre has over 30 bears including sun bears, rescued from being turned to soup or made to dance in shows. 

I love animals and getting to experience exotic species up close is exciting, but we HAVE to be considerate of the animals and their welfare. If a large predator like a tiger or crocodile is posing for photos, it’s drugged and being mistreated. Don’t kid yourself that you’re helping to give these animals a good life. Don’t get involved, don’t hand over your money and don’t buy animal products. Only by cutting the financial link can we stop animals being exploited for human gratification. 

Even in some conservation circles, WFFT isn’t considered ethical. This is because it gives the opportunity for guests to feed an elephant as part of the tour. I felt that the feeding was not invasive or exploitative. You’re not allowed to touch the animals and just hand them a piece of fruit which they grab with their trunk. I felt that the animals were well respected but I can also agree that sanctuaries that don’t allow any interaction at all are more ethical. Whichever way you look at it, seeing all these animals still living in cages is desperately sad, even if their lives are better now than before. They should never have been in this situation in the first place.

And look, I’m not perfect. I’ve swam with captive dolphins, I’ve ridden an elephant, I’ve bathed an elephant. Learning how to be better and treat animals with more respect is a process. I don’t feel great about having done those things in the past and it was only afterwards that I realised by taking part in those activities, I’m perpetuating animals being exploited and mistreated. So if you want to enjoy these animals for generations to come, research the places you want to visit very carefully and make sure to think about the welfare of the animals before your own enjoyment.

Date of Trip; March 2024

Price Paid; 3 nights at Nana Resort was £177.00 B&B booked through hotels.com. 2 day tour of Kaeng Krachan inc transfer from Bangkok was 16,000baht (£350.00) booked with Tontan Travel. 2 nights at I Love Phants Lodge B&B including a full day tour of the rescue centre and lunch and transfers was 12,600baht (£275.00) booked direct with ILPL.