From the board members

We the board members of the Help Elephants World foundation, regret to inform you that as of this month we have to withdraw our support from Elephants World due to a lack of trust in the management of Elephants World.

In 2010 Help Elephants World was founded as a platform to raise funds in order to support the ethical care of Asian elephants. Since 2010 the board members have repeatedly requested financial reports from the owners of Elephants World in order to track the allocation of donations raised by Help Elephants World. Unfortunately up to present date, Help Elephants World has never received any official financial records from Elephants World.

In April 2017 the founding board members of Help Elephants World made a trip to Thailand to meet personally with the management of Elephants World. This meeting raised more concerns as the board did not receive sufficient answers to their questions. The management of Elephants World promised to provide financial records for 2017 and 2016 but these documents were never received.

Following this meeting, the three board members withdrew their support from Elephants World. They wished to no longer manage Help Elephants World and decided to step down. The founding members were then replaced by the three current standing members of our board.

In July 2016 Help Elephant World began receiving donations for Elephants World’s campaign to buy the land they currently operate on (#SaveElephantsWorld). In October 2017 the board members received a request from the management of Elephants World to transfer the campaign money to Elephants World. The board members in return requested official documentation before transferring the donations. Since that exchange there has been no communication from the management of Elephants World. We have not received any of the promised financial reports or relevant land documents. However recently we did receive confirmation from the land owner that Elephants World is no longer allowed to buy the land.

Registered Dutch foundation

As a registered Dutch foundation we cannot operate without honesty and financial transparency. Any donations currently held by Help Elephants World will not be released to Elephants World.

We apologize to our supporters for the lack of communication for over more than a year. During this time we have been trying our best to retrieve proper documentation and reports from Elephants World. Before issuing a statement to the public we wanted to ensure we had given Elephants World a proper opportunity to meet the standards of our foundation. Unfortunately we no longer feel comfortable associating with Elephants World.

We are currently working with a new project which we as a foundation can support as it follows the principals of Help Elephants World. We wish to help an elephant friendly project in a natural environment that supports not only elephants but also the local community. We will be changing the name of our foundation to "Somboon Elephant Foundation" and will continue to support the ethical treatment of Asian elephants under our new name.

We are very excited and optimistic about this new direction and will keep you updated by email info@somboon.org or through our website www.somboon.org which is currently under construction.

We are looking for other options and be sure to keep you updated.

We need people with different qualities to help us organize a better future for the elephants. If your are interested please contact us by peoplehelp@somboon.org

Thank you so much for your support over the years and we hope you understand our position.

Help Elephants World Board Members