Should we ride elephants? (For me, the answer is definitely no.) 

But did you know that at one stage, the offering of elephant rides was seen as being part of "saving" them from a tortuous life working in the forestry industry, dragging heavy logs around?

And did you know there are now thousands of domesticated elephants in Thailand who still need to be supported, somehow?

While I always strive to be an ethical wildlife tourist, diving deeper into this topic has proven to me it's never as black and white as we think, and that many solutions to these kind of problems are best solved through empowerment and many discussions with the local people involved - and that this is not a quick or easy solution, but a better one for sure!

This is a special episode of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast - I've put it together as part of the requirements for the Certificate in Sustainability and Anti-Oppression in Travel, a fabulous course I've been studying through the RISE Travel Institute. See the show notes for references, more information and videos.

Links:
RISE Travel Institute - https://www.risetravelinstitute.org
Catherine Marshall at Time To Wander - https://www.timetowander.com.au 
World Animal Protection - https://www.worldanimalprotection.org.au 
Animondial - https://animondial.com  
Diana Edelman's post about riding elephants in Thailand - https://dtravelsround.com/2015/08/11/truth-about-riding-elephants-in-thailand/
Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers
Join our LinkedIn group for Thoughtful Travellers - https://notaballerina.com/linkedin
Show notes: https://notaballerina.com/252

Should we ride elephants? (For me, the answer is definitely no.)&nbsp;
But did you know that at one stage, the offering of elephant rides was seen as being part of "saving" them from a tortuous life working in the forestry industry, dragging heavy logs around?
And did you know there are now thousands of domesticated elephants in Thailand who still need to be supported, somehow?
While I always strive to be an ethical wildlife tourist, diving deeper into this topic has proven to me it's never as black and white as we think, and that many solutions to these kind of problems are best solved through empowerment and many discussions with the local people involved - and that this is not a quick or easy solution, but a better one for sure!
This is a special episode of The Thoughtful Travel Podcast - I've put it together as part of the requirements for the Certificate in Sustainability and Anti-Oppression in Travel, a fabulous course I've been studying through the RISE Travel Institute. See the show notes for references, more information and videos.
Links:
<ul>
<li>RISE Travel Institute - <a href="https://www.risetravelinstitute.org">https://www.risetravelinstitute.org</a></li>
<li>Catherine Marshall at Time To Wander - <a href="https://www.timetowander.com.au">https://www.timetowander.com.au</a>&nbsp;</li>
<li>World Animal Protection - <a href="https://www.worldanimalprotection.org.au">https://www.worldanimalprotection.org.au</a>&nbsp;</li>
<li>Animondial -&nbsp;<a href="https://animondial.com">https://animondial.com</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;</li>
<li>Diana Edelman's post about riding elephants in Thailand -&nbsp;<a href="https://dtravelsround.com/2015/08/11/truth-about-riding-elephants-in-thailand/">https://dtravelsround.com/2015/08/11/truth-about-riding-elephants-in-thailand/</a></li>
<li>Join our Facebook group for Thoughtful Travellers -&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers">https://www.facebook.com/groups/thoughtfultravellers</a></li>
<li>Join our LinkedIn group for Thoughtful Travellers - <a href="https://notaballerina.com/linkedin">https://notaballerina.com/linkedin</a></li>
<li>Show notes: <a href="http://notaballerina.com/252">https://notaballerina.com/252</a></li>
</ul>

The Thoughtful Travel Podcast with Amanda Kendle is a show for travel lovers. Each episode is packed with travel stories from fellow travel addicts on topics like using foreign languages, meeting the locals, getting lost and what we learn from our travels.

Tales from travel-lovers about why we travel and what we learn from it.

The Thoughtful Travel Podcast

The Thoughtful Travel Podcast with Amanda Kendle - established 2016 - helps travellers think about how our travels can be good for us and good for the world. We talk about how to make ethical decisions on our trips, sustainable and regenerative tourism, bringing back what we learn from the people and cultures we meet to improve our lives back home, and share the most memorable stories from travelling: fun, scary, educational and more. Most episodes include extracts from conversations with three different guests, centred on a particular topic, but you'll also hear occasional deep dive interviews, recordings from the Thoughtful Travellers Book Club, and Amanda's own experiences from travelling past and present.

The Thoughtful Travel Podcast with Amanda Kendle - established 2016 - helps travellers think about how our travels can be good for us and good for the world. We talk about how to make ethical decisions on our trips, sustainable and regenerative tourism, bringing back what we learn from the people and cultures we meet to improve our lives back home, and share the most memorable stories from travelling: fun, scary, educational and more. Most episodes include extracts from conversations with three different guests, centred on a particular topic, but you'll also hear occasional deep dive interviews, recordings from the Thoughtful Travellers Book Club, and Amanda's own experiences from travelling past and present.

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