An initial statement by the club apologised for offending people but stopped short of saying it would stop using elephants for entertainment at the club.
But this morning (March 30), on its Facebook page, the company said, “To elaborate on our last statement, we would like to make it clear that we do not, have not and will never own an elephant.
“The elephant in the photo is from a reputable elephant caretaker who has no affiliation with Nikki Beach.
“With the above said, we understand that this has upset many of our customers and animal advocates around the world, so effective immediately, we will stop granting the requests for elephants at Nikki Beach Phuket.
“The Nikki Beach family will never stand for the mistreatment of animals.”
The storm of complaints about the club raged on both Facebook and Twitter, reaching a new height at the weekend with the launch of a new Facebook page titled “Boycott Nikki Beach Hotel ‘Phuket’”.