Riding an elephant in Ayutthaya: a two-person saddle, and one of me

The saddle was built for two. I got on it alone. The moment the elephant started walking, my body was thrown sideways.

Out of Bangkok just after seven

We left Bangkok a little after seven in the morning, on a full tour bus, and ran north for about an hour and a half. We were in Ayutthaya before nine.

The city was founded around 1350 and was the second Siamese capital after Sukhothai until the Burmese destroyed it in the 18th century. The Historic City of Ayutthaya has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1991.

Under the red AYUTTHAYA ELEPHANT CAMP sign

There is a red sign at the entrance, and under it a lane lined with souvenir stalls. Banana leaves overhead, sun umbrellas standing about. Busy in the way tourist sites are busy.

There were, I think, close to ten elephants. Several routes were on offer, from a short one up to a route that goes into the river. We took the one that stays out of the water.

A two-person saddle, with one person in it

The saddle seats two, one on each side, and it balances that way. I rode alone.

Once it walks, every step swings you. With the weight loaded on one side, the swing does not come back. It was frightening, to be honest. Ahead of me, the red canopy on the next elephant was rocking left and right at exactly the same tempo.

The track starts in open grass and then goes in among the brick ruins. The mahout sat just in front of me at the base of the elephant’s neck, in red, in a wide-brimmed hat.

The blue Ganesha, seen afterwards

You come back down under the roof where the stalls are. I checked my watch: about ten minutes up there. It had felt considerably longer.

In one corner a blue Ganesha was enshrined — the elephant-headed god, seated against red cloth, surrounded by offerings and flowers. Seeing that immediately after being carried by an elephant, something in my posture straightened up.

Notes from this visit

• Ayutthaya Elephant Camp, among the ruins of Ayutthaya. The Historic City of Ayutthaya has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1991; the city was founded around 1350
• About an hour and a half from Bangkok by bus. We left just after 7am and arrived before 9
• Close to ten elephants. Several routes by length, including one that enters the river
• The saddle seats two. Riding alone puts the weight on one side and it swings hard — two people is steadier
• The ride was about ten minutes, from open grass in among the brick ruins
• There is a blue Ganesha shrine on the grounds
• Elephant riding is genuinely contested on animal-welfare grounds, and conditions and handling vary a great deal between operators. Read about it and decide for yourself before booking
• Prices and routes change. Confirm on site

Visited August 2025. Prices and operating details are as they were at the time of the visit.