The ‘world first’ transparent jungle bubbles in Thailand that let guests elephant-watch and stargaze

These amazing see-through jungle pods give guests at a luxury resort in Thailand uninterrupted views of elephants by day – and the stars above at night.

The pods, called Jungle Bubbles, have been installed at the five-star Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp & Resort in Chiang Saen, northern Thailand, which claims the accommodation is a world first.

They are perched on raised wooden decks and the resort says they allow guests the chance to have ‘a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to spend the night with Thailand’s majestic elephants in their natural habitat’.

 Stays in the Jungle Bubbles start from 17,700 Thai Baht (£440/$570) per night for two people

The transparent bubble accommodation is fully air-conditioned and offers 22 square metres (236 square feet) of indoor floor space.

They have a bedroom with a king-size bed and a living space with a seating area as well as an enclosed, non-transparent en-suite shower.

Luxury touches in the pods include bathrobes, slippers, crisp white bed linen, regular and feather pillows and bathroom amenities including a hairdryer and a makeup mirror.

The two bubble pods were custom-designed by firm Eye In The Sky and are constructed using a ‘high-tech polyester fabric’.

Guests at Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp & Resort can book the Jungle Bubble experience as an optional activity and spend the night there from dusk until dawn, returning to the hotel in the morning.

In 2015, the resort started serving rare Black Ivory Coffee, which uses beans painstakingly picked out of elephant dung

The transparent pods give guests at the luxury resort uninterrupted views of elephants by day and the stars above at night

The transparent bubble accommodation is fully air-conditioned and comes with a bedroom and living space

Stays in the bubbles start from 17,700 Thai Baht (£440/$570) per night for two people and the price includes a dinner basket, a fully stocked mini-bar, a 24-hour in-room dining service and tea and coffee making facilities.

Unfolding across 650,00 square metres (6,996 square feet) of jungle, the Golden Triangle Elephant Camp & Resort is perched on a hill overlooking the Mekong and Ruak rivers.

It has majestic views over Thailand, Laos and Myanmar and of grazing elephants in their natural setting.

The resort says that it’s world-famous for its elephant camp, which was set up alongside the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation (GTAEF) to help elephants that cannot care for themselves due to abuse and those that are unable to maintain an income for their keepers.

The resort explains: ‘Here appropriate activities are designed that allow the elephant caretakers to raise the funds they need to look after the elephants without forcing them into activities they might not enjoy.

‘The introduction of the Jungle Bubbles at Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp & Resort is another world first that can be scaled and shared with other elephant camps to allow them to give a subset of the animals – those that prefer to only meet their mahouts and are bonded into friendship groups – a natural life in a manner that they enjoy without becoming a financial strain on the operation.’

In 2015, the resort started serving rare Black Ivory Coffee, which uses beans painstakingly picked out of elephant dung.

Elephants sometimes eat coffee during periods of drought in Southeast Asia. As the beans work their way through the animal’s digestive tract – a 17-hour process – the digestive acid takes the bitterness out of them.

Workers collect the coffee beans from the elephant dung, before washing and drying them in the sun.

The precious coffee, which costs around $1,880 (£1,445) per kilogramme, is then prepared in front of guests at the resort in an elegant 19th-century French coffee machine.