Visiting an elephant sanctuary is one of Thailand’s most popular must-do activities. Depending on the sanctuary, visitors get to feed, bathe and walk with elephants.
However, not all elephant sanctuaries are truly ethical and many still have dubious practices. This post covers:
- 🧠 How to choose an ethical sanctuary
- 💧 Ethical vs. unethical activities
- 🐘 Best ethical sanctuaries
- 🦟 What to bring and pack
Planning a trip to Thailand? This Thailand guide covers things to know before getting there, including how to get around, safety and scams, cultural differences and top places to visit.
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Brief History of Elephant Tourism in Thailand
Before delving into what’s considered an ethical elephant sanctuary and safe haven, here’s a brief history of how elephants became popular for tourism in Thailand.
🐘 Elephants: An Important Icon
Elephants have always played an important role in Thai society and history.
- Elephants are the national animal of Thailand. For centuries, they’ve been a culturally significant icon that represents loyalty, strength and longevity.
- Throughout history, elephants have been used for Thailand’s wars, entertainment, transportation, logging and other forms of manual labor.
Although other countries (e.g., India, Laos, Nepal) use elephants for entertainment, Thailand is particularly known for it because it has the most captive elephants (more than 4,000).
🪵 The Shift to Tourism for Elephants
The Thai government passed logging restriction laws in the late 1900s that led elephants to be used for the tourist industry instead.
- Thailand banned logging, which heavily used elephants, in 1989. This left most “mahouts” (elephant caretakers and overseers in Southeast Asia) without work.
- Elephants that have been captive for years can’t be easily released into the wild for several reasons, including:
- Lack of foraging and survival skills, especially for those born in captivity
- Dependency on humans for food and care
- Natural habitat loss due to deforestation
- Lack of social skills needed to integrate with wild elephants
- The above led elephants to be used for tourism and entertainment (e.g. elephant shows, rides, circuses). This gave mahouts employment and helped generate the income necessary to feed and shelter captive elephants.
🎪 Tourism Impact on Elephants
Since elephants started working in tourism, there’s been increasing global awareness of how the industry negatively impacts them.
- Starting in 2010, non-profits, such as World Animal Protection, researched tourism’s negative impacts on elephant welfare.
- Animal rights groups and social media have helped spread elephant cruelty awareness to change tourist behavior. This has led to an increase in demand for more ethical elephant encounters and interactions in tourism.
Elephant riding, which is still popular and legal in Thailand, has been proven to be harmful and unethical. Demand for it has lessened, but not disappeared, in the past decade.
What Is Ethical Elephant Treatment in Tourism?
There’s an ongoing debate among elephant experts and caretakers on ethical vs. unethical elephant treatment in tourism. Here’s the general consensus so far:
| Tourist Activity | Is It Ethical? |
|---|---|
| Elephant rides | ❌ Very unethical |
| Bathing with elephants | ❌ Likely unethical |
| Touching elephants | ❓ Ethically questionable |
| Feeding elephants | ❓ Ethically questionable |
| Walking with elephants | ❓ Ethically questionable |
| Observing elephants | ✅ Ethical, if from afar |
💡 Why is Riding an Elephant Unethical?
Riding an elephant is considered unethical because it negatively impacts the animal’s health and well-being.
- Elephants’ spines are not made to carry the weight of people, platforms, saddles, etc., so their spines become deformed, leading to chronic pain.
- In order to make elephants complicit and not dangerous to tourists, they need to fear humans. To do this, physically and psychologically damaging practices are employed to “break” their spirit, which includes beatings, isolation and food deprivation. These practices are especially effective when used on a baby elephant.
- Elephants used for riding are often overworked to exhaustion, not provided with adequate rest or food, and forced to do unnatural behaviors that deprive them of development.
To help reduce demand for elephant rides, avoid elephant camps or “sanctuaries” that offer them. These businesses normalize the activity and make it seem ethically acceptable.
💡 Why is Bathing With Elephants Likely Unethical?
Wild elephants bathe in water and roll around in mud pits to stay cool and keep their skin clean from parasites.
This makes it seem like bathing with elephants is natural and ethical, but this practice is risky and ethically questionable both for elephants and visitors.
- Elephants poop in the water they bathe in, so tourists who bathe with them can get transmitted diseases.
- To follow the tour itinerary, elephants are often forced to bathe with humans even when they don’t want or need to.
- To make the elephants complicit and unlikely to harm tourists during bathing, they need to be scared of humans and are subject to abuses that make them fearful and stressed.
Most elephant sanctuaries allow elephant bathing today, but some of the most ethical sanctuaries are moving away from this practice in recent years.
🍌 Is It Ethical to Walk, Touch or Feed Elephants?
Walking, touching and feeding elephants can be ethical if done respectfully.
The main thing to keep in mind is that in all these interactions, elephants should not be forced to interact with people. For example, elephants should be able to move at their own pace, proactively take food from people and be able to refuse being touched.
The most ethical way to treat an elephant is to leave them alone and have no human interaction. However, since that’s not possible for all captive elephants, the best thing to do is minimize forced contact.
🚫 Should You Boycott Elephant Sanctuaries?
Boycotting elephant sanctuaries is not effective because some rescue centers genuinely support elephants and depend on tourism money to care for them. As mentioned above, it’s challenging to release captive elephants back into the wild.
Aside from needing to house and feed elephants (they can eat 140 pounds of food per day), many rescue elephants also need medical treatment (some drugs need to be imported into Thailand, contributing to higher costs).
How To Choose an Ethical Elephant Sanctuary
Many elephant camps in Thailand have rebranded themselves as “sanctuaries” without changing their practices to be ethical, so it can be hard to know which ones are genuine sanctuaries.
Below are signs that an elephant camp or sanctuary is ethical. Some of these will not be obvious on the tour operator’s website or marketing, so you’ll need to do your own due diligence, look at photos and read reviews.
- Elephant rides are not provided or promoted.
- Elephant bathing is ideally not provided. However, this continues to be an extremely popular practice. For now, it’s more realistic to look for no signs of forced bathing in reviews.
- The primary activity provided for tourists is to observe and learn about the elephants. The less interaction they encourage, the better.
- The elephants are not rented or traded. They are bought so that they are permanently residing in their current homes.
- Elephants are not forced to perform tricks or any form of entertainment for tourists; they simply exist.
- Elephants don’t have any chains and are free to wander around in a large natural environment.
Chiang Mai Map of Ethical Elephant Sanctuaries
One of the most popular places to see elephants in Thailand is Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand. All ethical elephant sanctuaries are located about one to two hours outside of the city where they have enough space for elephants to roam.
This map shows the location of all elephant sanctuaries mentioned in this list.
5 Best and Most Ethical Elephant Sanctuaries in Chiang Mai
Below are five of the most ethical and best elephant sanctuaries in the city in no priority order.
All sanctuaries are committed to giving rescued elephants a better life (e.g., no forced baths with tourists and plenty of space to roam freely), have extremely high ratings on Google and Tripadvisor (4.8+ stars) and have English-speaking guides.
1. Elephant Nature Park
💡 Why it’s ethical: Elephant Nature Park is considered the best elephant sanctuary in Thailand. It often acts as a leader in setting best practices and new ethical models for other elephant camps.
🐘 # of elephants: The elephant park has over 100 elephants in its care and primarily rescues ones that were formerly in the riding and circus industry.
🤝 Other work: Elephant Nature Park funds community projects, offers volunteer programs and provides a great opportunity to learn about elephant conservation.
⭐️ Google rating: 4.8/5. Tripadvisor rating: 5/5.
💰 Tours offered: The non-profit offers half-day visits, single-day visits and overnight stays ranging from 2,500 Baht (~$72 USD) to 12,000 Baht (~$342 USD).
| Tourist Activity | Offered? |
|---|---|
| Observing Elephants | ✅ Yes (this is the primary activity) |
| Feeding Elephants | ✅ Yes (in some tours) |
| Walking With Elephants | ✅ Yes (in some tours) |
| Bathing With Elephants | 🚫 No |
| Riding Elephants | 🚫 No |
Elephant Nature Park tours are extremely popular, so they need to be booked weeks in advance. I tried to book it one month ahead in November and they had no slots available.
2. BEES – Burm and Emily’s Elephant Sanctuary
💡 Why it’s ethical: BEES has a “No Contact – Hands-Off” policy with its elephant and is considered to be one of the most ethical elephant sanctuaries in Thailand.
🐘 # of elephants: BEES currently has three Asian elephants.
🤝 Other work: They also provide volunteer opportunities and educational services to the local community.
⭐️ Google rating: 5/5. Tripadvisor rating: 5/5.
💰 Tours offered: BEES offers a single-day overnight stay, a four-day program and a one-week program that starts at 2,500 Baht (~$72 USD).
| Tourist Activity | Offered? |
|---|---|
| Observing Elephants | ✅ Yes |
| Feeding Elephants | 🚫 No, but you help prepare food |
| Walking With Elephants | 🚫 No |
| Bathing With Elephants | 🚫 No |
| Riding Elephants | 🚫 No |
3. Kindred Spirit Elephant Sanctuary
💡 Why it’s ethical: Kindred Spirit Elephant Sanctuary is deeply invested in its elephants having a natural habitat to roam in. Their elephants are often foraging in the forest and visitors have to hike to observe them.
🐘 # of elephants: Kindred Spirit currently has six elephants.
🤝 Other work: The non-profit has won several awards for responsible tourism and employs workers from the local village, which are members of the Karen Hill Tribe. They also give back to the community by teaching English.
⭐️ Google rating: 5/5. Tripadvisor rating: 5/5.
💰 Tours offered: Kindred Spirit offers two-day and three-day packages costing approximately 10,000 Baht (~$285 USD) to 11,500 Baht (~$328 USD).
| Tourist Activity | Offered? |
|---|---|
| Observing Elephants | ✅ Yes |
| Feeding Elephants | 🚫 No, but you have lunch near them |
| Walking With Elephants | 🚫 No, but you hike to them |
| Bathing With Elephants | 🚫 No |
| Riding Elephants | 🚫 No |
4. ChangChill
💡 Why it’s ethical: ChangChill is supported by the World Animal Protection (WAP), the same organization that conducted studies on how tourism negatively impacts elephants. They have an observation-only model.
🐘 # of elephants: ChangChill currently has six elephants.
⭐️ Google rating: 4.9/5. Tripadvisor rating: 5/5.
💰 Tours offered: ChangChill offers full-day trips costing 2,500 Baht (~$72 USD).
| Tourist Activity | Offered? |
|---|---|
| Observing Elephants | ✅ Yes |
| Feeding Elephants | 🚫 No, but you help prepare food |
| Walking With Elephants | 🚫 No, but you hike to them |
| Bathing With Elephants | 🚫 No |
| Riding Elephants | 🚫 No |
5. Elephant Freedom Project
💡 Why it’s ethical: Elephant Freedom Project is a well-established organization in Chiang Mai that allows its gentle giants to roam freely in an elephant park. Although they offer bathing, they discourage tourists from making direct contact with the elephants.
🐘 # of elephants: The organization currently has four to six elephants.
⭐️ Google rating: 5/5. Tripadvisor rating: 5/5.
💰 Tours offered: The organization offers full-day and half-day tours as well as a feeding experience. The prices range from 1,225 Baht (~$35 USD) to 3,000 Baht (~$86 USD).
| Tourist Activity | Offered? |
|---|---|
| Observing Elephants | ✅ Yes |
| Feeding Elephants | ✅ Yes |
| Walking With Elephants | ✅ Yes, and can walk at their own pace |
| Bathing With Elephants | ✅ Yes, but encouraged to keep a distance |
| Riding Elephants | 🚫 No |
5 Notable Elephant Sanctuaries in Chiang Mai
Below are five other notable ethical elephant sanctuaries in Chiang Mai. They may not be the most ethical (they offer bathing with elephants), but they condemn elephant riding and generally work towards providing rescued elephants with a better quality of life.
All of these elephant sanctuaries also have high ratings on Google and Tripadvisor (4.5+ stars) and have English-speaking guides.
1. Happy Elephant Home (My Experience)
I booked my experience with Happy Elephant Home and recommend them with the caveat that they offer elephant bathing (more on that below).
🐘 # of elephants: They care for four Asian elephants that were formerly from the riding or logging industry.
🍀 My take: My Happy Elephant Home experience is one of my favorite and most memorable moments in Thailand.
- Feeding the elephants. During feeding, I ripped apart bananas, placed them in a bag, walked out to the open fields and held them out for the elephants to grab. The elephants were not forced to eat or interact with me or other tourists during this time.
- Walking the elephants to the river. We then walked alongside the elephants at their pace to the river. On the way back, Molo, their oldest elephant, slowed down so her mahout patiently waited for her to continue without rushing her, despite us running behind schedule.
- Bathing with elephants (optional). The organization does allow bathing with elephants, but they don’t force the elephants to get into the water and interact with people.
Molo didn’t get into the water when we arrived at the river and no one forced or encouraged her to get in. We stood a few feet from the water and she was allowed to engage in natural behaviors, such as scratching herself against a tree and foraging for food. I had a great time observing her one-on-one as I chose not to swim in the river.
⭐️ Google rating: 4.7/5. Tripadvisor rating: 5/5.
💰 Tours offered: Happy Elephant Home offers half-day visits, full-day visits and an overnight stay. The prices range from 1,800 Baht (~$52 USD) to 5,000 Baht (~$143 USD).
| Tourist Activity | Offered? |
|---|---|
| Observing Elephants | ✅ Yes |
| Feeding Elephants | ✅ Yes |
| Walking With Elephants | ✅ Yes |
| Bathing With Elephants | ✅ Yes (optional; elephants not forced to enter the water) |
| Riding Elephants | 🚫 No |
2. Asian Elephant Projects
Asian Elephant Projects works with Elephant Nature Park and Save Elephant Foundation to advance the welfare of elephants. They allow bathing with elephants, but do not promote close contact with them during the swim.
⭐️ Google rating: 4.6/5. Tripadvisor rating: 5/5.
| Tourist Activity | Offered? |
|---|---|
| Observing Elephants | ✅ Yes |
| Feeding Elephants | ✅ Yes |
| Walking With Elephants | ✅ Yes |
| Bathing With Elephants | ✅ Yes (no close contact) |
| Riding Elephants | 🚫 No |
3. Into The Wild Elephant Camp
Into the Wild Elephant Camp provides its elephants with plenty of space to roam in the forest. However, they promote close-contact elephant bathing.
⭐️ Google rating: 4.8/5. Tripadvisor rating: 5/5.
| Tourist Activity | Offered? |
|---|---|
| Observing Elephants | ✅ Yes |
| Feeding Elephants | ✅ Yes |
| Walking With Elephants | ✅ Yes |
| Bathing With Elephants | ✅ Yes (close contact) |
| Riding Elephants | 🚫 No |
4. Elephant Freedom Village
Elephant Freedom Village is a small, family-run sanctuary that ensures their elephants spend most of their time in the forest. However, they promote close-contact elephant bathing.
⭐️ Google rating: 4.9/5. Tripadvisor rating: 5/5.
| Tourist Activity | Offered? |
|---|---|
| Observing Elephants | ✅ Yes |
| Feeding Elephants | ✅ Yes |
| Walking With Elephants | ✅ Yes |
| Bathing With Elephants | ✅ Yes (close contact) |
| Riding Elephants | 🚫 No |
5. Elephant Jungle Sanctuary
Elephant Jungle Sanctuary is an established center with multiple locations that help raise awareness about elephant welfare, but they promote close-contact elephant bathing.
⭐️ Google rating: 4.9/5. Tripadvisor rating: 4.5/5.
| Tourist Activity | Offered? |
|---|---|
| Observing Elephants | ✅ Yes |
| Feeding Elephants | ✅ Yes |
| Walking With Elephants | ✅ Yes |
| Bathing With Elephants | ✅ Yes (close contact) |
| Riding Elephants | 🚫 No |
What to Bring and Pack to an Elephant Sanctuary
Having spent a day at an elephant sanctuary, here’s what to bring when visiting an elephant sanctuary in Thailand.
- Sunscreen. Whether you’re observing the elephants or walking with them, you’ll be outside in the sun with minimal shade for most of your visit, so put on some sunscreen.
- Insect repellent. Elephant sanctuaries are located in forests and national parks where mosquitos and other bugs are prevalent, so wear some insect repellent.
- Sturdy shoes that you don’t mind getting muddy. If you’re walking with elephants or hiking to them, you’ll have to walk through trails that are often muddy. I wore my Chacos and thought they worked well.
- Bathing suit if you plan to get into the water. Bathing with elephants is ethically dubious, but many places still offer this experience, so bring a bathing suit if you plan on participating.
- Quick-dry towel if you plan to get into the water. Same reasoning as above; make sure to bring a quick-dry towel that you don’t mind getting a bit dirty.
- Cash. Bring some cash to donate more to the sanctuary, tip the guide (tipping in Thailand is not customary, but it’s appreciated) or buy a souvenir.
If you have any questions or thoughts, feel free to leave them in the comments below.
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