World Friends Foundation Thailand is a haven for rescued animals, a place where rides aren’t allowed.
A steady snack of watermelon is part of Pai Lin’s afternoon walk. (Alison Bowen / Chicago Tribune)
Baby elephants should be kept with their mothers, something that doesn’t always happen in captivity, activists say. (Alison Bowen / Chicago Tribune)
Dogs are also part of the animal assortment at the Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand refuge. Islands in the lake host monkeys. (Alison Bowen / Chicago Tribune)
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Elephant enclosures include pools where the mammals can cool off from Thailand’s heat and humidity. (Alison Bowen / Chicago Tribune)
Gibbons in their forest enclosures screech and howl at visitors. (Alison Bowen / Chicago Tribune)
Animals at the Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand refuge range from a porcupine to bears, monkeys and elephants. (Alison Bowen / Chicago Tribune)
Kaew Petch is in her 50s and worked with tourists for 30 years. (Alison Bowen / Chicago Tribune)
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Pai Lin is one of the refuge’s slowest walkers, and visitors enjoyed lumbering with her along a forest trail. (Alison Bowen / Chicago Tribune)
Some of the monkeys previously had been chained to pose with tourists for photos and selfies. (Alison Bowen / Chicago Tribune)
Monkeys were sometimes kept as pets by locals, a WFFT guide said. (Alison Bowen / Chicago Tribune)
Visitors can take elephants like Pai Lin on her afternoon walk at WFFT’s refuge, where elephant rides aren’t allowed. (Alison Bowen / Chicago Tribune)
