chilling with the elephants in chiang mai

Elephant Sanctuary Chiang Mai

We spent an unforgettable day at Elephant Nature Park, a sanctuary for retired and injured elephants.

Going into the day, I knew virtually nothing about elephants and their role in the tourism industry, except that elephant shows and riding are common tourist attractions in Thailand. But we learned many chilling facts about how elephants are treated—their trainers basically torture them into learning how to dance, paint, carry humans on their backs, and do other tricks. These acts, while seemingly fun and entertaining on the surface, are entirely unnatural for elephants. For example, while elephants look sturdy enough to carry humans on their backs, their bodies are actually not designed to carry weight that way. Many elephants end up with long-term injuries from work like this.

Elephant Sanctuary Chiang Mai

Elephant Nature Park was founded about 20 years ago to rescue these elephants and give them a comfortable home. Part of their mission is to provide an alternative way for tourists to interact with these animals in a safe, respectful way. So while the $70 cost per person was a bit steep for a day trip, we found it to be entirely worthwhile to chill with the elephants and support the valuable work of the park.

Elephant Sanctuary Chiang Mai

Instead of riding the elephants or making them do tricks for you, the enjoyment at Elephant Nature Park comes from simply walking around with the elephants in their natural environment. It was fun to get up close and personal with them and notice their individual personalities. Some were mischievous, others pretty relaxed, and a few a bit feisty!

We could also feed them watermelon and sticky rice, plus give them baths—they were quite muddy and in need of them! (Though I think most of the elephants got muddy again immediately after.)

Elephant Sanctuary Chiang Mai

And we learned a ton about elephants:

  • Elephants are highly social and live in groups with their families and friends. When a new elephant comes to the park, he or she has to figure out in which group they’ll fit into—and that group has to accept them, too.
  • Baby elephants have “nannies”, who are often unrelated elephants that help the mother rear them.
  • Park staff can’t always tell if an elephant is pregnant or just fat. A few months ago, the staff woke up to find a baby elephant born in the middle of the night!
  • But now, they keep the males and females separated because they don’t want new elephants—there’s not much space as is, and it’s more important to use limited space for rescued elephants.
  • Elephants only sleep for 4-5 hours a day, and otherwise spend their time eating. (Sounds nice!)

Another wonderful part of the day was that the park rescues (and vaccinates!) dogs and cats. After spending months aggressively avoiding these animals, we were in heaven being able to play and cuddle with so many!

Bell the cat

Travel Notes:

  • Book early! Elephant Nature Park is really popular and can fill up weeks in advance. 
  • The $70 per person cost includes: pick-up and drop-off from your place in Chiang Mai, buffet lunch, and an English-speaking guide through the park.

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3 Comments

  1. Humans like you are changing the world into a more humane place for animals. Thank you. (Remember that movie, Water for Elephants.)

  2. Thanks for sharing yet another fascinating adventure. Have you been “aggressively avoiding” cats and dogs for health reasons or are there some other reasons?

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