Henrik wants to create safe haven for elephants in Krabi

In Thailand, elephants suffer from the tourism industry more than any place else in the world. Henrik Enevoldsen from Denmark is trying to create a safe haven for Thailand’s mistreated elephants, and hopes to get support from fellow Scandinavians to rescue the burdened creatures.

Henrik Enevoldsen was only around three or fours years old when he first encountered the large animal that would one day become a significant part of his life. Cirkus Benneweis, one of Denmark’s premier circuses, camped right across from Henrik’s parents’ house in Esbjerg, southern Denmark, and that is when Henrik for the first time saw a real elephant.

“I became very fascinated by this large elephant that looked very different from the other animals we would usually see in Denmark. I would walk back and forth between my parents’ house and the circus to see the elephants by the circus,” said Henrik.

The fascination has followed the now 50-year-old Henrik Enevoldsen ever since that very first encounter, and he is now planning to open up a sanctuary for elephants, abused by the logging and tourism industries, in Krabi, southern Thailand.

Supported elephants right from the start

Henrik came to Thailand the for the first time in 1988 while travelling around Asia. Two years later, in 1990, he decided upon settling down in Krabi where he started Café Europa, a place that have brought many people together over Scandinavian food.

While running Café Europa, Henrik has supported many elephant projects in Thailand, which buys elephants out of mistreatment in the logging and tourism industry and places them in sanctuaries where the elephants are given a better life, away from the abuse which they have often suffered under for many years.

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