Elephant Hills

Elephant Hills became the first animal attraction anywhere in the world to score 100 per cent in a Global Spirit welfare audit. There's no riding here. Instead, help prepare the elephants' food, then watch them eat, mud-bathe and roam a free-range enclosure at their own pace. Experiences include a canoe safari along the Sok River, jungle treks in search of gibbons and hornbills, or a longtail crossing of the lake, created decades ago when the Ratchaprapha Dam flooded the valley below.

The camp is Thailand's first luxury tented lodge, split across two sites in Khao Sok National Park: a 66-tent jungle camp beside the Sok River, and a 20-tent floating camp on Cheow Lan Lake, powered by solar and wind, with locally made furniture built by the camp's craftsman. There's no Wi-Fi or television at the floating camp. Instead there's a short documentary on the park's history plus stargazing from the tent terrace, usually accompanied by the sound of gibbons calling. A share of every stay funds the Elephant Hills Children's Project, supporting education in the villages around the park.