There is an urgent welfare need in Southern Thailand to provide elephant health care; a problem that STEF is currently striving to address. There is also the need to support well-managed, caring centres for old or neglected elephants, and to provide more education to encourage better welfare and protection of the endangered Asian elephant.

In 2020 we funded the completion of a much needed Elephant Veterinary Centre at Khok Kloi, north of Phuket, and this year we aim to raise enough money to fully equip the centre and pay for its running costs. Until now, the nearest hospital for elephants in this area was a four-hour journey by truck. The services at the new centre, the first NGO elephant hospital in Southern Thailand, are made available free of charge to elephant owners in Phang Nga and Phuket provinces.