Nong Fai is 56 years old and looks much younger than her years. She is a sweet, kind, calm, gentle soul. Many years ago, she was used as a logging elephant near the Myanmar border to haul teak out of the jungle, and then brought to Phuket to give rides to tourists.
 
She was one of the first 4 elephants to arrive at Hidden Forest on 2nd Nov 2023. She initially preferred to be around people and was scared of the other elephants but when Wassana arrived on 14th March 2024, they showed interest in being friends. Our team slowly socialised them and they are now inseparable best friends. Wassana and Nong Fai have very similar personalities and even look similar from a distance making it difficult to recognise who is who from afar! 
 
Elephants used in the riding industry often don’t have the freedom of a large pond in which to bathe and if they do bathe in a pond or river, they are not left in peace. Our pond at our Hidden Forest Restaurant could be the very first time that Nong Fai has bathed in years. At first she was afraid to go in on her own, so her mahout, whom she trusts, swam infront of her for the first month and she followed him eventually trusting her new environment to bathe on her own. Now she is best friends with Wassana, it's wonderful to watch these two beautiful friends roam our land and bathe together peacefully, in the forest where elephants belong. ​