Indochina in Depth (SAID) / Indochina Adventure (SAIA)

Re-reading my questions I realised I sound a bit of a miserable git !!

I've enjoyed all of my Imtrav trips, it would just be good to know a bit more about the Laos visa as last time I crossed into Laos I was able to get a visa at the border ...

I also feel strongly about Elephant Trekking (as you can tell), so it would be good to know if I could easily avoid this part of the trip ...

Just to clarify my point above for anyone reading this post: Elephant Nature Park do great work to help rescued elephants.

Cheers

Hello Monty!

Obviously, I don't work for Imaginative Traveller, but I've travelled with them before to Nepal, and I went on an Elephant ride there on one of their tours. We were staying at a jungle lodge at the time, so I would have thought it would be possible to stay behind at the hotel/lodging if you didn't fancy it.

The only possible problem I could see would be if you don't return to the hotel after the elephant trek, but instead get dropped off somewhere and travel onwards. Then you'd have to make your own way from the wherever the elephant trek starts to the end point, I guess, which might be problematic if it's in a remote area.

I've actually booked to go on the Indochina Adventure tour from 18/12/09. When are you thinking of going? And what problems did you have with the treatment of the elephants?

Hi Dom,

Thanks for your response,

I'm currently planning a trip for early next year although I'm also booked to do the Victoria Falls to Cape Town tour in Nov/Dec this year.

The Elephant Nature Park in Thailand do great work to help rescued elephants. I worked there as part of a trip and while you are at the park they tell you how poorly many elephants are treated. I won't get into a crusade about working elephants and I'm sure that Imtrav use "reputable" trekking companies. However, any working elephant needs to be "broken" before they will work and this process is very cruel. Elephants may have many owners during their lifetime and the current owner may not have been responsible for this process. If you interested you may find the site below interesting.

http://www.elephantnaturepark.org/

Cheers

Hi Montyf

I have confirmed with our Operations Department that if you do not wish to take part in the Elephant trekking that is included in this tour, this will not be a problem. This can be arranged with the tour leader when you arrive in Thailand and he/she will be happy to make alternative arrangements for you.

With regards to why we include Elephant trekking in the itinerary of our Indochina Adventure tour, we do so as this is an activity that is consistently popular with our groups. We are constantly monitoring the treatment of the Elephants involved through our tour leaders and guides, and our Head of Operations also went to observe this activity during his last visit to Thailand.

However, we are aware that many issues have been raised surrounding the 'pajaan' method of training Elephants. This is only practised by the Karen people in Thailand, but we recognise that this ethnic group are heavily involved in the training of Elephants. This does obviously raise further concerns, and at Imaginative Traveller we try to ensure that we are using Elephants that have not undergone this process - although this is of course difficult to confirm. We also try to balance this responsibility with our policy of using local services to provide an income for the local communities in the areas where we operate.

I can only assure you, and anyone else considering taking one of our tours in Thailand that we will continue to monitor this situation carefully and take action as necessary. In India for example, due to concerns over the treatment of Elephants we no longer include Elephant rides in our tours.

Best wishes
David

David,

Thanks for your detailed response. Like most things it comes down to personal choice. Working Elephants are part of Thai culture and I can appreciate why many people enjoy the trekking.

I know Imtrav well enough to know you would monitor the situation.

Could you also provide any advice regarding my query on Indochina in Depth (SAID)?

.

Hello monyf,

I am sorry that you have not received a reply - not sure what happened there...

Most people find that it is best to arrive a few days early in Bangkok and arrange the visa there- the only other alternative is to travel to Paris (which is the closest embassy from the UK!).

I hope that this helps.

Kate Hudson

Thanks for the reply .....

Lao visas

Yes Bangkok is the easiest method. On the Indochina in Depth you can also get the visa in Hanoi before heading to the border.

Thanks for that don_suz ....