Following Giants

25/04/2025

Moon's very first elephant meeting at our sanctuary, with the lovely Dao Rueng, was so gentle and beautiful – you could just tell a special friendship was about to bloom.

These two are now the best of friends and a joy to watch. Moon is such a playful soul, throwing herself into water play, dust baths, and simply revelling in her freedom.

We've got a wonderful video coming tomorrow showcasing all the happiness in Moon's new life... stay tuned for a dose of pure elephant joy. 🐘🌙💚

23/04/2025

Our incredible mahouts have been busy behind the lens again, capturing more beautiful moments of the elephants they dedicate their lives to caring for.

Please tap the like button and show our amazing mahouts some love. 💚🙏

16/04/2025

Today marks Save the Elephant Day, a crucial time to highlight the importance of ethical tourism. It's a sobering thought that over half of Thailand's elephant population live in captivity. Even more concerning is that only a fraction – roughly 3% – live in genuine observation-only environments where their well-being truly comes first.

Sadly, thousands of these magnificent creatures are forced into demanding lives of logging, elephant rides, or unnatural bathing experiences for entertainment.

Please show you care and help us raise awareness. By liking, sharing, and commenting on this post, you can amplify this vital message and help us highlight the plight of the thousands of elephants living in these conditions. Every share brings us closer to a future where more of these majestic animals can live with the dignity they deserve.

Before choosing an elephant experience, please check World Animal Protection’s guide, which lists elephant-friendly venues and what to look for. https://www.worldanimalprotection.org/our-campaigns/wildlife/commercial-exploitation/travel-tourism/elephant-friendly-tourist-guide/

Please, do your bit today to improve their lives.

World Animal Protection

13/04/2025

Sawadee P*e Mai - Happy Songkran.

As Thailand welcomes its New Year, we're sending you warm wishes for joy, renewal, and good fortune. Songkran festival is known for its lively water traditions, representing purification and the washing away of the old to make way for the new.

Today also holds a special significance for us, marking two years since Songkran (pictured) was rescued from a life as a riding elephant and found her forever home at Following Giants, Koh Lanta.

Have a fantastic Songkran. 🐘💚💦🇹🇭

07/04/2025

We have incredible news! Thanks to your overwhelming generosity and support, Moon's freedom has been secured! In an amazing effort, the funds needed to bring her home have been raised, and her days of working in riding and logging are officially over.

We are absolutely thrilled and can't wait to welcome Moon to our sanctuary in Krabi, introduce her to our other rescued elephants, and show her the peaceful life that awaits.

A massive thank you to each and every one of you who commented, shared, liked, and donated. Your kindness and compassion have made this dream a reality. Without your incredible support, this wouldn't have been possible.

Thank you to the Moon and back. 🌙🐘💚

Planting Peace

05/04/2025

Moon urgently needs your help! We have a loving home waiting for her at our Krabi sanctuary, where she can finally retire and live out her days peacefully with our other rescued elephants.

We're thrilled to be partnering once again with Aaron and Planting Peace. Once free, Moon will join our beloved Tiny and Peanut.

Please, help us give Moon the life she deserves. Every donation, no matter how small, will make a real difference. You can help us bring Moon home.

Please donate today: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-rescue-moon-from-forced-logging

24/03/2025

Knowing how much you adore Tiny, Peanut, and our dedicated mahouts, we're delighted to share a few more of the beautiful images our mahouts have captured.

Happy Monday, everyone. 🐘💚

17/03/2025

Happy Monday! We're kicking off the week with more gorgeous photos, all captured by the talented hands of our elephant carers, the incredible mahouts at our Krabi sanctuary.

Wishing you a wonderful week. 🐘💚

14/03/2025

It has come to our attention that our sanctuary, Following Giants, is being incorrectly referenced as a provider of elephant bathing activities on Koh Lanta. Furthermore, tickets for these activities are being sold by Pelago, an operator acting on behalf of Singapore Airlines.

Following Giants is an observation-only elephant sanctuary, endorsed by World Animal Protection. We are deeply concerned that this sponsored advertising campaign, which is being delivered to visitors searching for elephant experiences on Koh Lanta, has the potential to mislead visitors and damage our reputation.

We wish to clarify that tickets are being sold under false advertising. We do not offer or endorse elephant bathing activities.

We hope this statement will help clarify the situation until Pelago and Singapore Airlines make the necessary changes.

We remain dedicated to providing genuine and respectful elephant encounters.

Pelago Singapore Airlines World Animal Protection Thailand องค์กรพิทักษ์สัตว์แห่งโลก

13/03/2025

Tiny, a year ago, lived a life worlds apart from the peace he now enjoys. Today, as Thailand celebrates Thai Elephant Day, we're reminded of our national animal and the importance of raising awareness about captive elephants. Tiny’s rescue from a life of logging shows how awareness can transform lives. It's a day to reflect on the progress we've made, but also to recognise that many more elephants still need our help. Let's continue to spread awareness and create a future where all elephants, like Tiny, can live with dignity and kindness.

Show your support for Tiny, and those yet to know the freedom he enjoys. 💚🐘

02/03/2025

Severely malnourished and emotionally scarred, Somkid requires extensive medical treatment and care to rebuild his strength. Planting Peace our dedicated rescue partner are raising much needed funds, please, join us in supporting Somkid's journey to health and freedom.

Urgent:

Meet Somkid,

You don't need to be a vet or an elephant expert to see what's happening here. He was being used as a beachside attraction for tourists to pay to feed him on a popular beach in Thailand. Truthfully, I genuinely don't understand why beachgoers would not just be outraged, but my thinking is they used this look to guilt people into feeling bad and to pay money to help feed him.

Thankfully, he is now safe with our rescue partner, Following Giants.

We're raising funds to help pay for emergency healthcare and to put weight back on him. Please help if you can. You can donate directly on his gofundme/ right here on Facebook/ Venmo: plantingpeace333

Somkids Gofundme: http://bit.ly/3D4W51C

Happy to answer any questions.

- Aaron Jackson
Planting Peace

01/03/2025

Somkid's first days were difficult, having an extreme wariness about what his new life held. It's a familiar struggle for many elephants arriving at our sanctuary. Years of relentless work, constant relocation between camps, ever-changing demands, and an ingrained reliance on their mahouts' cues leave them broken, devoid of the confidence to make even the simplest choices. Somkid, at 70 years old, is no exception. Despite readily available food, he often stands motionless, waiting. His new mahout, Pump, is patiently guiding him, spending their days exploring the sanctuary together. In the coming weeks, Pump will encourage Somkid, fostering his confidence and allowing him to learn from the other elephants. But this encouragement will be a slow, gradual process.

Rescuing an elephant is never straightforward; it's fraught with challenges, and each rescue is uniquely demanding. At Somkid's age, we cannot predict how long it will take for him to truly relax, to trust again.

Regarding his health, medication has been administered to help him regain strength. However, his wariness prevented the vets from completing their initial health check. Severely malnourished, we understand his treatment will be ongoing, and the medical team will return shortly to complete their examinations.

Yet, as we witnessed upon his arrival, he continues to love the water, taking daily dips in the pool and devouring more banana trees.

We are extremely grateful for your support and your understanding as we dedicate our time to Somkid's care. 🐘💚

19/02/2025

"We have to help Somkid." These words have echoed countless times since we saw that devastating image. We knew we had to do everything possible to help him.

Rescuing elephants is not easy, sometimes it's impossible, but Somkid's frail and emaciated body broke our hearts.

At 70 years old, this poor soul has worked his entire life, labouring in logging and riding camps. In September 2024, his life took another tragic turn, and that's when we offered to take him into our care. Sadly, our offer was rejected, but we never gave up hope.

Two weeks ago, we finally received the long-awaited news that Somkid could join our family and spend the rest of his days in our care.

However, Somkid's permanent rescue is not yet secured. We lack the funds to buy his freedom. We hope that in the coming months, with the support of our visitors, we will be able to raise the necessary funds.

For the time being, he will join our Koh Lanta sanctuary. Through the generous support of our visitors, we will gradually raise the required funds. We understand that not everyone can visit and show their support in person. Therefore, for the first time, we will be selling elephant food care packages online. To purchase a food package and support Somkid's rescue and his journey to recovery, please visit https://www.followinggiants.net/supportus

We know we have the most incredible supporters, and we know many of you will want to help further. If you would like to get involved, please send us a message or email us at [email protected]

We cannot express our gratitude enough for the unwavering support we receive. Thanks to you, our dream of rescuing elephants is a reality.

18/02/2025

Did you know that it is common practice for some elephant sanctuaries to rent their elephants? This often results in elephants being moved between sanctuaries, constantly adapting to new environments, new mahouts, differing work schedules, and varying diets.

At Following Giants, we firmly believe in lifelong care and prioritise the well-being of every elephant. We do not engage in short-term rental contracts. However, elephant rescues are complex, incredibly expensive, and emotionally demanding endeavours. Unfortunately, not all rescue attempts are successful.

Whenever possible, we purchase an elephant's freedom, ensuring they can live a life free from work. Tragically, our rescue efforts are sometimes constrained by limited funds. Many factors influence the price of an elephant, typically ranging from $30,000 to $60,000 USD. This leaves us with difficult decisions that we understand may not always be met with universal agreement.

A solution lies in entering into rent-to-buy contracts. These contracts guarantee an elephant's transfer to our sanctuaries long before we have the necessary funds to secure their outright freedom.

We believe in complete transparency with our guests. We are deeply committed to rescuing elephants and believe we should employ every available means to liberate them from abusive situations.

Thong Aek joined our sanctuary in May 2024 under a rent-to-buy agreement. Thanks to the support of our visitors, we are now able to purchase his freedom. For ten months, Thong Aek has been free from work, has recovered from his past trauma, and has formed strong bonds with his mahout and our other rescued elephants. This remarkable achievement was only possible through this agreement and the unwavering support of our guests.

We will always strive to purchase our rescued elephants outright, but we recognise that this is not always feasible. We will soon share news of our latest rescue, explaining why this rent-to-buy agreement is an invaluable tool in our ongoing efforts to provide sanctuary for elephants in desperate need of help.

14/02/2025

Tiny and Dao Rueng experiencing the magic of love this Valentine's Day. 💚
While the world celebrates Valentine's Day, we celebrate Tiny's journey of healing and the joy in his new life.

Drop him a 💚 and show your love.

Wishing you a Happy Valentine's Day 🐘💚

10/02/2025

When you want to cool off but you don’t want to get your hair wet. 🐘

Adorable things happen when elephants get to choose how they cool off. 💚🐘💚

06/02/2025

Elephants are masters of stealth, moving silently through the forest, easily lost amongst the trees and bushes. But despite her best efforts, Songkran's attempts to hide failed her this morning.