Remember that auction voucher package we won a few months back at the Seek Magazine Launch event? Well, in case you don’t, one of the things that was part of the package was a one night stay at an “authentic Thai” resort called Sampran Riverside inclusive of a Thai cultural show and an art & craft workshop.

We had been excited for this getaway for quite some time after looking at their website. So much so that we didn’t even care to check reviews on TripAdvisor. We wanted to experience it without any hearsay because sometimes people tend to exaggerate their experiences.

Big mistake!

This was one of the times, we were actually very disappointed and disheartened with our trip but we’ll get to the reason(s) why soon.

Let’s start with the good first

Sampran riverside is a self-proclaimed Eco-cultural destination in the outskirts of Nakhon Pathom province, where hospitality meets Thai culture.

After driving for about an hour from Bangkok, we reached this seemingly massive resort. Our first impressions were great. The resort hotel was surrounded by lush green gardens, a tranquil lake and sat by the banks of the Tha Chin River. Also part of this resort are 4 different restaurants, antique Thai houses, a 10-acre organic farm, a weekend farmers market and even a Thai cultural village.

We really enjoyed the Thai cultural show and the organic angle they were promoting here. All their food was grown on their land and also supported local communities by allowing them to sell their produce at the weekend farmers market. The resort also gave jobs to them through their cultural shows as they performed amazingly – from village life to Thai dances to wedding rituals to even Muay Thai fights. It was great.

Sound pretty good doesn’t it? We thought so too. I mean this place should be on top of everyone’s (who is into Eco-tourism) must-visit destination list when in Bangkok. Well not so much…

The bad

OK, so the bad wasn’t that bad but us just being nit picky as the service standards weren’t up to par as most hospitality places we have been in Thailand. I mean if you are promoting Thai culture, then where were the friendly smiles at the hotel? Where was the proactive service?

The floating and farmers market could also be grander but I guess there weren’t enough buyers that weekend so they had to scale down. Maybe.

Then it got really ugly

Here’s where things got really depressing and it angered us. Within their cultural village, they had an elephant camp where they had 3-4 elephants for entertainment purposes. Guests could ride an elephant while others were chained up for feeding and scheduled shows.

Eco-cultural destination? To us that was very misleading because doesn’t that mean the place has a responsibility towards sustainability – in all aspect of the word, including wildlife? Is it part of Thai culture to abuse or take advantage of animals? We highly doubt it.

Since we started blogging and read all these other travel blogs, it opened our eyes to the truth behind elephant and other animal abuse. We knew it and we wondered if any of these tourists and even locals knew it too. Did the hotel know about it but still condone it?

These were just some of the questions that came in our mind and we really wish that they didn’t use these majestic creatures for entertainment purposes.

I admit when we were younger we would love to go see elephant or animal shows but we thank our lucky stars that through blogging we know better now. We truly understand that we as bloggers have a role to play with raising awareness. Can we stop this? Probably not. But it starts with us. By us not supporting such establishments, which is exactly why we will never go back to Sampran or any related place.

It’s sad because they have a good concept and they are trying to give back to the community through organic farm growing, job opportunities for locals and raising awareness of Thai culture. But we’d like to see some serious responsible tourism by eliminating the elephant activities or at least not market themselves as a fully Eco-anything destination.
Have you ever had a bad experience at a resort or destination you thought that was going to be amazing? What happened? We’d love to hear about it.