Thailand's Anantara Golden Triangle offers novel and ethical way to engage with elephants

I continue to hear them long after the setting sun has transformed their hulking forms into shadowy silhouettes. They let out gentle huffs as they move through the dark, branches crackling beneath their immense weight. It makes for a strangely soothing symphony.

The two Asian elephants are my only companions as I bed down in a jungle bubble at Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp and Resort in northern Thailand. On a raised wooden platform encircled by dense jungle, Anantara has set up four transparent, interconnected spherical structures, crafted from a high-tech polyester.

These air-conditioned forms contain two bedrooms, a living room, two bathrooms and all the amenities one would expect from a five-star hotel, including Wi-Fi, tea and coffee-making facilities, a mini bar and fluffy bathrobes. With the added bonus of elephant views at every turn.

The 30-square-metre wooden deck in front of the bubbles is home to seating areas, a dining table and even a plunge pool, offering a decidedly decadent way to immerse oneself in nature. And beyond, an expansive, open stretch of grassland where the elephants take their evening meal and then turn in for the night.

We had strolled down from the main hotel earlier in the evening – myself, my two new lumbering companions and their mahouts, or handlers. Our journey down the well-worn path is leisurely (it is difficult to hurry an elephant, it transpires), their dexterous trunks in constant search of lush treats in the surrounding vegetation.

Elephants in their natural habitat at Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp & Resort. Photo: Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp & Resort

Our destination emerges from the undergrowth – the transparent spheres incongruously futuristic-looking amid a backdrop of dense green. An enormous mound of grasses, roots and bamboo, laced with tasty sugar cane, sits in front of the bubbles and the elephants make an immediate beeline for their gourmet dinner.

I approach my meal with similar verve. As I take a seat at a table facing out on to this pachydermic tableau, a private butler appears to serve up a starter of betel leaf filled with fish, ginger, tamarind, peanuts and dried coconut, washed down with a drink of iced lychee and Thai tea. My main course consists of sea bass and a Parmesan risotto, while dessert includes a panna cotta, cheesecake, fresh strawberries and a selection of chocolates.

With one last reminder that I am not to cross the barrier at the end of the deck – late night unchaperoned encounters with three-tonne animals are seldom recommended – my butler leaves and I am on my own. The melodic calls of tropical birds and the buzz of cicadas close in around me. The stars are out in full force, unfettered by the scourge of light pollution. And my elephant companions munch on.

I wake the following day to the sound of trumpeting. In the misty morning light, from the comfort of my four-poster bed, I see "my" two elephants standing top-to-tail. The smaller of the duo is wearing a jaunty little hat, having deposited a chunk of greenery on its head at some point in the night. They are still and subdued, waiting for their mahouts to come and pick them up for their morning walk.

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I had joined them on their daily jaunt the morning before, in the company of John Roberts, Anantara's group director of sustainability and conservation, and director of elephants. Overlooking the spot where Thailand, Myanmar and Laos converge, Anantara's Golden Triangle property sits on about 65 hectares of bamboo forest, rice paddies, countryside and indigenous gardens flanking the Mekong and Ruak rivers – making it the perfect spot for mistreated elephants to find sanctuary.

The property is home to an elephant camp, which was set up alongside the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation in 2003, to provide Thailand's elephants with a place where they would not have to participate in unethical work, such as street begging in urban centres, the now-outlawed logging industry or intrusive tourism-related activities. At the last count in March 2019, there were 3,800 elephants in captivity in Thailand, 80 or 90 per cent of which were working in the tourism industry.

More than 20 of these have found refuge here, along with their entire mahout families.

"We believe that in an ideal world, all elephants would be wild and there would be no need to discuss elephants’ work," says the GTAEF mission. "Until we reach that point, the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation works with our partner hotels to give and promote ethical work for those elephants that are able, while providing a safe, healthy environment for those that are not.

"We perform rescues for elephants, mahouts and families; we co-operate with the government and other organisations in ‘bigger picture’ projects; and, at all times, we endeavour to ensure that net good is done and that our actions in helping one elephant do not adversely affect others."

At Anantara, this means elephants exist in their natural environment, receiving daily exercise and a balanced diet. Guests can watch, walk with and, now, courtesy of the jungle bubbles, "sleep" with elephants – in a way that is utterly captivating but minimally intrusive.