Combine a half-day elephant experience with other packages offered by Manifa Travel

Packages for families with children. Two adults and two children share two elephants to keep the price low.

American feminist and philosopher Donna Haraway‘s theory of animals has had a significant impact on humanistic approaches to animals and the environment. Her work challenges traditional human-centered views and promotes a more relational and interspecies understanding of the world. The following article reviews interdisciplinary research on elephants in Laos and Southeast Asia based on key concepts raised by Haraway and provides a coherent discussion of ethical elephant tourism.

These FAQs were developed by Manifa Elephant Camp, based on the original Elephant FAQs created in 2017–2018 for tourism in Luang Prabang. That earlier initiative was part of an EU-funded project implemented by the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), with support from relevant Lao and ASEAN institutions and tourism associations. The original FAQs reflected the perspectives of animal welfare experts working in elephant tourism across Southeast Asia, and were intended as a response to anti-elephant tourism campaigns led by organizations such as World Animal Protection (WAP).

Manifa Elephant Camp has long published those FAQs as helpful resources for promoting a more informed understanding of elephant tourism. However, we have now undertaken an independent revision to better reflect current research, ethical debates, and local perspectives.

In this updated version, we have:

• Corrected the original bias toward Western-centric animal welfare frameworks

• Included responses from the perspective of animal rights activists—whose views were largely excluded or opposed in the original FAQs

• Added insight from Lao communities and mahouts, whose voices and relationships with elephants are often overlooked in global debates

We believe these updated FAQs offer a more balanced, culturally respectful, and critically informed approach to the complex ethics of elephant tourism in Southeast Asia.

Our hope is that this resource helps you, as a thoughtful visitor, reflect on what it means to support elephant tourism responsibly.