Private Tour | Kui Buri elephant safari | half day
Kui Buri National Park is known to be the best place in Thailand to spot elephants and relatively good chance to spot gaurs, and that sometimes in big herds. Gaurs are the biggest cattle species and the fourth biggest land-mammal species in the world. Other possible sightings during the tours include sambar deer, banteng and wild boar.
What?
Due to strict regulations this half-day wildlife safari tour doesn't include any hiking activities apart from leaving the vehicle for short walks to viewing areas, we will only be allowed to do safari driving. During our tour we scan the forest edges on grassland areas known to be prime elephant habitat in hope to see mainly elephants and/or gaurs.
Tour itinerary
From 2:30 pm till 5:30 to 6 pm
Wildlife tours in Kui Buri National Park are strictly regulated and limited to certain hours. After a mandatory registration we will get assigned an open-air vehicle with driver and an assistant. The tour will begin by driving slowly into the reserve on the main dirt road north heading to the main grassland areas. While driving slowly, we will search for any wildlife including birds or any other smaller/bigger animals.
Our first stop will be a viewing area where we leave the vehicle in hope to spot wildlife, mainly elephants. We will later on continue to the next viewing area at the end of the road, best known for spotting gaurs, but also elephants and sometimes bantengs.
During the tour, your guide will give you information about the habitat, wildlife and history of the park.
The type of assigned vehicle is an open-air pick-up truck driven by locals. It is the Kui Buri National Park's policy to let locals do the driving, a policy that showed to be a success in reducing the poaching in the park.
Where & When?
Kui Buri National Park lies about 1.5 hours driving distance from Hua Hin and nearly 4 hours from Bangkok. We can offer private transfers from Bangkok, Hua Hin or other destinations. The park is open all year round.
Tour details in short:
- Duration: half day
- Type: Private tour
- Price: 1,050 to 3,500 Baht per person
- Group size: 1 or more people
- Grade: Easy
- Transport: Safari vehicle
- Start: 2:30 pm
- End: 5-30 - 6 pm (depending on time for sunset)
What to bring:
- Rain clothing
- Insect repellent
- Sunblock lotion
- Hat or cap
How much?
Our half-day safaris are private tours. You'll be accompanied by an English speaking licensed guide and no other people will join you; the best way to explore Kui Buri Wildlife Watching area!
| Pax | Rate per person |
|---|---|
| 1 | 3,500 THB |
| 2 | 2,000 THB |
| 3 | 1,600 THB |
| 4 | 1,300 THB |
| 5 | 1,200 THB |
| 6 | 1,150 THB |
Tour rates include:
- Entrance fees
- English speaking guide
- Drinking water
Reviews from our guests
By: Michael Gouldsmith | posted Sun 19 Jan, 2025
We were very lucky to see 2 separate herds of elephants and enjoyed the experience.
However, the advertising for the tour mentions other animals which are not in the park area - especially in the dry season. This should be explained on the website
> Tour operator's response
Dear Michael,
We're glad to hear you enjoyed the trip.
I am sorry to hear you had expectations of certain animals that are not to be found in the accessible area.
On the tour package page we mention: Elephants, Gaur, Sambar Deer, Wild Boar and Banteng. All of which have been seen on our tours. Surely, the most commonly seen species are the elephants (>95% of the tours) and the Gaur (~90% of the tours), and the other species are less common, but they are certainly present. And there is more than what is mentioned, like occasional sightings of Golden Jackal, Stump-tailed Macaques, Hog Deer (introduced), Red Muntjac, quite some years ago one of our guides even had the extreme fortune to see an Asiatic Golden Cat. The park rangers have even seen tiger in the elephant observation area many years ago, but unfortunately in the past 10 years there have been no tiger records even on camera trap records until very recently when a tiger known from the Kaeng Krachan forest complex was camera trapped in Kui Buri again after many years of no records at all. But even though theoretically there would be a chance to see such rare animals, we would never advertise that on the tour page because it is not in our advantage to set high expectations for something that with near certainty cannot be delivered. But the tour is sold as an elephant safari because with >95% success rates it is as close as it gets to guarantees of wildlife sightings. The elephants are the primary target of the trips. Although in the communication prior to the booking, we always warn that there is no guarantee for elephants either. It's wildlife after all.
Perhaps you've looked at the wildlife list that is mentioned for the entirety of the Kui Buri national park, then yes there are plenty of species on there which are not in the area of the park that is open to visitors. The ThaiNationalParks.com platform records all wildlife observation in the parks (and also outside protected areas). That includes all habitats in the park, not just the elephant observation area. But nowhere is claimed that those can be seen on the tours. We don't own the ThaiNationalParks.com page, we are just a tour operator partner of a number of the tour packages on this web platform.
But the ThaiNationalparks.com platform is a lot more than just a place for booking tours. It is first and foremost a platform sharing information about many of the national parks in Thailand, how to visit etc.
Hopefully the disappointment of the lack of certain species didn't spoil the trip too much for you.
Thank you for your feedback.
By: Gail Cochrane | posted Mon 13 Jan, 2025
This is the second time I have booked a visit and it was again a wonderful experience.
The last time we saw 2 elephants, that was fantastic to see.
I didn't have high expectations to see more this trip, but we were very fortunate to see a full herd of about 20 individuals - including a very young baby.
We were able to watch them for over 30 minutes as the herd amble by eating as they went.
Our driver, guide and wildlife spotter were fantastic again ( I was happy to see we had the same escorts as last time).
It is a visit I would recommend most people visitors do - but remember this is not a zoo and you will not be guaranteed to see everything every time !
> Tour operator's response
Dear Gail,
Thank you for joining our tour again.
And great to hear you saw a big herd of elephants this time.
You are right it is never guaranteed. Since April 2023 (even though we have been running these trips for many years prior to that) we have started to collect statistics of the elephant and gaur sightings in Kui Buri on our trips.
Up until now the percentage of successful trips on which elephants have been seen, is 96.7%. For Gaur the percentage is a bit lower, currently at 91.7%. Unlike your previous trip, you were not lucky this time to see Gaur, if I've been informed correctly. January seems to be the least productive month for Gaur with only about 70+% of the trips being successful. In October it has so far been 100%.
Thanks again for joining us.
By: Fiona | posted Tue 7 Jan, 2025
We had an enjoyable afternoon with your knowledgeable guide Som. The lift you organised for us was on time and we had a courteous driver.
By: Christopher Campese | posted Mon 6 Jan, 2025
We had an incredible experience seeing elephants and guars. Our guide was extremely knowledgeable, friendly and informative. Her English was also fantastic, which made it easy for us to understand. We saw many elephants, including, babies. We really loved this experience.
By: Karina | posted Mon 6 Jan, 2025
Nice Tour
By: Claire Walters | posted Sat 4 Jan, 2025
What a great tour! We loved it! Our guide Som was fantastic, so kind and really looked after us. We were very lucky during our visit and saw lots of elephants. We saw a family crossing the road, a herd drinking and playing in the water and a large herd in an open space. It was amazing, an experience we won’t forget
By: James Lang | posted Tue 31 Dec, 2024
The guide Som was kind, knowledgeable and helpful and everything was easy to manage once we arrived. We appreciate the conservation and peaceful coexistence with elephants and guar. The only problem was the map directions to the meeting point were not correct. I suggest to give guests the name of the meeting point and not the coordinates
> Tour operator's response
Dear James,
Thank you for your feedback. We're glad to hear guide Som did a great job as usual.
Not sure why there was a problem with the location.
The google maps link we provided is correct, not sure why you had trouble opening it, perhaps an issue with internet connectivity? And in the booking details we did indicate the name of the meeting point. If you enter the name "Entrance, elephant observatory site, Kui Buri" in google maps it will direct to the exact meeting location. So, we did exactly what you suggest ;)
The coordinates we only provided after you notified us that you couldn't find the place using the provided google maps link.
Not sure why it caused a problem. Our other guests haven't had a problem with it.
But anyway, glad it all worked out in the end.
Thank you for booking with us!
By: Emily Crossley | posted Tue 24 Dec, 2024
We had the most wonderful experience here. Our tour guide was so helpful and answered any questions, as well as making us laugh a lot! I would definitely recommend the tour with a guide and we saw so many wild elephants!
By: Thomas Moentnich | posted Sat 21 Dec, 2024
Wir hatten eine wundervolle Zeit.
By: Kendall Jones | posted Sat 14 Dec, 2024
Guide was very patient and informative, and seeing elephants in the wild was incredible. We had a great time!
