PLEASE READ!! We were told this place was an elephant sanctuary but it definitely was not. The elephants are forced to move around for our convenience and are tied up. They are not allowed to roam freely and are not treated with dignity. While we were making the healthy snack for the elephants our friend actually witnessed one of the elephants being hit. When we were discussing it, the tour guide Sammy overheard us and became very aggressive with us. He told us we need to forget about what we think and to just have an open mind so we can have a good experience. He went on a long rant that ended with him telling us to ask questions if we are concerned, but that would only result in more lecturing from him. While visiting with the elephants they seemed distressed and Sammy was very aggressive with us. He actually grabbed me and dragged me around by the arms while I yelled at him to stop to forced me into a photo opportunity with the elephants. Sammy tried to be funny with jokes but often it was uncomfortable and he was extremely pushy. He yelled at us the entire time to take pictures. When it was time for the elephant bath it was extremely concerning as we were all in our bathers and Sammy was taking pictures and again yelling at us to participate when the elephants seemed unhappy. When we stopped for lunch the food was alright but Sammy spent the entire time asking each of us if we are having a good time and asking us to write a good review right then. He was pressuring us and the entire experience was extremely uncomfortable and disturbing. We were treated very poorly and I can only imagine how poorly the elephants are treated based off our experience.

Such a great experience to see such beautiful beings up close. The shuttle service picks you up and drops you off, and takes you through the stunning country side. The day was filled with fun activities that were all optional, no elephants or people were forced to take part. You got to prepare food for the elephants, feed them, and bathe in the river/have a water fight with them. It was a highlight of our trip. The guide, Sammie, was very upbeat, fun, and knowledgeable and provided such a unique experience. We even got to visit a nearby waterfall before heading back to town. The lunch was also 10/10 delicious!

My husband and I visited Chang Mai elephant home recently and had a magical day! The elephants we saw, a mother and her son, were so gentle and lovely! The mother had been rescued from an elephant riding place, so she is much more kindly treated now, allowed to freely move around with her son. We got to feed them both, walk around with them, and give them a mud bath before washing them in the river. The guides were so nice and very knowledgeable! Overall, this trip was a highlight of our time in Thailand and I would highly recommend visiting for anyone wanting to interact with elephants in a more humane way.

I had an amazing experience at Chiang Mai Elephant Home. Our guide for the day was Deedy. She was fantastic - very knowledgeable about elephants and ensured we were having a great time throughout the trip. We were picked up from our hostel and it was about an hour and 20 minutes to the elephant sanctuary. We stopped on the way at a local market and got some coconut waffles which were delicious. Once at the sanctuary we got changed into our elephant attire and made some vitamin balls to feed the elephants. We then fed the elephants fruit and the vitamin balls and had a chance to get some pictures with them. We had a great Thai lunch followed by some time to relax in hammocks while enjoying the gorgeous surroundings. The highlight of the day was easily the mud bath with the elephant. We gave him a mud massage and then washed him off in the river. We finished the day with a trip to a lovely waterfall. We never felt rushed throughout the day and the tour guides took fantastic pictures. We did the full day experience and would definitely recommend it as you spend more time with the elephants. The elephants here were very happy and you could tell they were treated with the utmost care. This was a once in a lifetime experience and would highly recommend to anyone looking to see some elephants in Chiang Mai.

Lovely experience. Here’s what happens why you book your tour: 1. Morning pick up at your hotel. And pick up others joining your tour and head to the sanctuary. 2. Given clean garments to wear (top and pants). 3. Taught to make healthy snack ball wrapped in banana leaves for elephants. 4. Taken to meet a family of 5 elephants where you can feed them, and play with them in a mud bath or in a regular river. 5. Served home made lunch at the sanctuary. 6. Quick drive to a lovely waterfall that we spent about 30 minutes at. 7. Driven back to hotel. Point to note: we went during the hot months and the open air van we were picked up in was very uncomfortable and hot. This is especially so because it took us about 90 mins each way to and from the sanctuary.

If you are looking for a shelter where animal welfare is the priority, it is not here. No, elephants are not abused, they look healthy that's true. And I think the people who take care of them are very caring. BUT, tourism has taken over. The animals are not free, they have ropes around their necks, and we wonder why. They are forced to do the same ritual every day, minimum 3 times a day (many groups turn on the center), the "healers" give them food all along the activity to be sure they stay in place. They are shouting Thai words if they do not want to move on and do not pull their ears. They are forced to take water in their trunk to water the tourists. The mother of the baby elephant is tied by a chain, and she shakes her head all the time, sign that she is stressed. Short, to bad to see that the business goes before. If you want to see a real center for elephants, go to Chiang Rai where they are 100% free, free of their movements and not disturbed by tourists.

This is a tough one and think you need to make your own choice on whether to do this and review. The human race will always want to see beautiful animals up close but doing this when they are in captivity will always be wrong whichever way you look at it. The only thing we can hope is that our money goes towards feeding them and nothing else. I think its great that these beautiful animals are saved from a life of performing and riding but they are still used for tourism. I have given 4 stars because they are well treated and this company is trying to persuade others to stop riding the elephants and it was an enjoyable day.

We've had a nice experience there preparing energy balls, washing and bathing the elephants. The staff was nice and we felt like the animals are treated well. They took photographs from us at the day but unfortunately we haven't received them and we haven't heard anything back to our E-Mail request...

Such a great at day the Chiang Mai elephant home, it really is an ethical sanctuary, no riding or bull hooks etc. The team were great. The elephants are obviously domesticated which is common, they are trained the same way we train our dogs and cats. They are intelligent creatures so they are easy to communicate with. They know command words which how the team lead them and keep everyone safe. The babies are born into captivity not all of them are rescue. The older ones are rescued but their babies are not. We asked the staff about it. They have a good life and live in a natural farm land to roam. The activities they have the tourists do with them are natural behaviours in the wild - mud baths, river swims and feeding. Overall amazing experience being up close with these beautiful elephants.

Amazing place! The elephants are really taken care of and Sam is a very caring and helpful guide. If you are looking for small group this is the best!!

Great experience! The staff were very accommodating and did a great job of educating us prior to feeding the elephants. Food honestly wasn’t great- but I wasn’t expecting it to be. Overall would recommend!

One in a lifetime experience! Really recommend 🤩! We booked 2 tours with them and they both exceeded our expectations 🥰 - elephant sanctuary + national park tour. I had the impression the caregiver are doing their best for the animals 🐘 You go there and you have many activities to do! You are not forced to do anything like bathing with them etc but it's nice to have the opportunity! They also offers a good lunch with tasty food 🍲!!

Had the best day with our guide, Sammy!! Lunch was delicious! We had the elephants to ourselves just the two of us for over two hours! You get to swim with them and feed them! The rafting was so fun and the hike was fab too even in the pouring rain! Thank you so much! Definitely a very ethical choice the elephants roam freely and aren’t tied up at all!!

Had the best day with Chiang Mai elephant home! Started off the day with bamboo rafting and then a trek where we met Sammy our guide. Lunch was delicious and the whole experience in the afternoon with the elephants was very personal and we could see the elephants were very well cared for! Thank you Sammy for the best day!

Amazing experience among the elephants ! The staff is great and the place is awesome. The elephants are kind and respected, they are treated well. You can even go to a waterfall during the trip. I recommend it !

Several random people recommended this Elephant home to us. They said that is one of a few that has truly local elephants. We had a wonderful half-day experience here. Getting up close to the elephants was amazing. We first made them a healthy snack, fed them, rubbed on some mud, and then washed it off in the river (even though it was full of elephant poop, nobody really cared about that). Sam kept us entertained with small jokes and interesting information the whole time. After washing ourselves in showers and enjoying a pretty good lunch, we visited a nice waterfall in the afternoon. The transport from and to the hotel was included. Overall, it was a great experience.

Sammy is a great knowledgeable guide that gave us the best experience at the sanctuary! Got many cute moments and definitely a memory I’ll remember. The elephants are very well taken care of, and it was really lovely to learn more about the elephants as well! There’s a baby elephant too 😊

Transfer from hostel was good, we went and did the half day with the elephants, great experience and would recommend. They also provided water and good food.

Not really sure how to feel about this place… We were told this is 100% ethic elephant sanctuary, a home for animals rescued from riding camps. But somehow these elephants were reacting to commands and even worse they were trained to do the tricks to make visitors laugh… this made me feel like in a circus and raised my concerns about authenticity of this place. At least animals were moving freely and seemed to be in good physical condition

Had an amazing experience. The rafting was great and our guide on the raft was for sure the best and most fun one!! 🙏 The food for lunch was really nice and the time with the elephants was amazing.

My heart is so full after today and that’s why I especially wanted to place a review. We stumbled on this organisation by coincidence and I’m glad we did. The elephants are being taking care of by local Thai farmers who dedicate their life to those elephants. (It’s not run by foreign people who solely have it as a tourist attraction). It’s located in a national park where the elephants can stay freely with a lot of land. We prepared their food/medicine, fed them, washed them and were able to be with them and take photos. It was such a special experience and all well organized. We were picked up at our hotel on time, had an amazing lunch (included in the activity) and went to a waterfall afterwards. They also drop you off at your hotel. Lastly I want to give a shout-out to our amazing guide Jaroon who probably made this experience the best I ever had. His love for the elephants (but also for animals in general) is so obvious and cool to see. A very humble and kind man who brings a smile to your face. (He also took pictures during the whole activity and sent it to our WhatsApp just before the trip ended). Would highly recommend Chiang Mai Elephant home! fyi: we booked this activity physically in their office in Chiang mai the day before. Helps a lot with questions you have.

I had a really good experience here. I really felt that they care about the elephants. Even if one of the elephants didn’t feel like taking a bath they just let him be and didn’t force them to do anything. They raised them like their child, it feels like a big family. You can just spent time with the elephants and get information if you talk to the guide. I also liked the food! I can definitely recommend going here:)

Me and my friends had an amazing experience here. The elephants were treated so well and you could see how happy they were. The staff are really friendly and our guide yoong was superb. The trip to the waterfall after was well worth it to. Strongly recommended

I did the half day tour with my friends and can highly recommend it. All the animals there (elephants but also the dogs) seemed to be happy and feel comfortable. They are treated well in the sanctuary and that’s extremely important. I definitely enjoyed the tour and had a an amazing time with the elephants. The staff was lovely, the food was great. I can’t say anything else then I am completely happy and would always do the tour again. Special thanks to our lovely and funny guide Yoong!

Amazing experience to see elephants. We got the chance to learn from them, feed them, bath them and watch them walk through the fields. Ronnie, the guide, was really nice and friendly :) Very happy about it. Recommended!

I was told that giving a negative review is to "break the law" in Thailand. Hence, I am NOT writing any review (good and/or bad) of my own personal experience with this tour operator. However, should future tourists or customers in Thailand find themselves in a situation that they deem to be of bad faith by anyone (example - but not limited to - be cheated or lied to), they are advised to immediately contact the local Tourist Police to sort the matter out. As I did.

The half day was perfect! The half day tour included tons of interaction with the beautiful and kind elephants. We got to feed them, walk with them in the jungle, give them a mud bath, and scrub them down in the river. You can tell the elephants are treated really well here and have a lot of space to roam around freely. Very happy to have visited a place that look after their elephants. Super recommend!

Our experience at Chiang Mai Elephant Home was amazing. The pick-up was smooth and they were right on time. When we got to the sanctuary, the guide spent some time explaining their program and taught us more about the elephants in Thailand and their history and interesting facts. We then proceeded to make snacks for the elephants, and we each had a bag of food to feed the elephants with. After feeding, we had a wonderful Thai buffet, and after a bit of relaxing time we proceeded to play with the elephants in the mud bath, and then had a blast washing them off in the river. I'd highly suggest the full day as the day went by so quick! Would definitely recommend anyone to experience this once in their lifetime.

I stayed for a morning and part of the tour included a waterfall trek after seeing the elephants which was beautiful. At the sanctuary I had about an hour and a half with the elephants. They let the elephants lead with what they want to do. So I made some vitamin rich food there but also brought lots of ripe bananas with me, and had the most amazing time feeding the elephants. The baby elephant clambered underneath the barrier to get closer to me to eat the bananas - which was hilarious and wonderful. Once they got used to us we changed out of our uniforms into wet wear as we gave them a mud spa. If I had to choose a Groundhog Day - this would be it. It was amazing from start to finish.

I’ve visited this place today and I’m not satisfied, I’ve come to their office to make sure that elephants are treated properly and the girl ensures me that they do in 100% but not in my opinion. We understand that they are domestic elephants, and compare to the wild ones they couldn’t live without humans. At the beginning was fine, but I didn’t like the part when they forced them to go into the water, even if they didn’t want to. They also pushed us to make a photo with them, even if I said that I don’t want to. At the end I felt more like in the circus, people gave them commands to hug people to the photo and spill the water on us. From the reviews it looks fine, but it’s not sanctuary like they say. I expected something else. Again the experience of feeding and preparing their food should be enough, we could have just see them from afar and not have “activities” that are “forced” upon them. We understand that locals have to make a living, and it seems hard to differentiate yourself from other elephants places but at least advertise that this is more of a show than a just heaven for elephants. Like said in the beginning it’s not a “sanctuary” like we believe it was, we are super disappointed as we didn’t want to finance this kind of activity. The waterfall activity was super nice but not the point of the whole experience.

It was really nice to be able to feed the elephants, mud them and bath the elephants. It's such a wonderful sanctuary to visit. Elephants are very happy and always wanted to play along with us. Elephants has a huge lots of space to roam around freely. It's very nice to be able to visit such an ethical sanctuary in Chiang Mai!

Absolutely awesome place, I had an unforgettable day. One of the best experiences of my life. It's so important to take care of elephants and the staff work is so amazing! It was like I was in heaven! I've traveled all around the world looking for something this special. Chiang Mai Elephant Home has to be heaven for humans and animals. Could not ask for a better experience.

Just visited it today and had an amazing experience. The entire trip was both enriching and delightful. The elephants at the sanctuary live happily and freely, and that was truly heartwarming. The staff was knowledgeable and caring, making sure both the visitors and the elephants had a fantastic time. I highly recommend this sanctuary to anyone who wants to witness the beauty of these majestic creatures in their natural habitat. It’s a must-visit destination!

The elephants are chained to posts 16 hours a day and only unchained when the guests arrive at 9am. I would recommend going to a sanctuary to see elephants where they are able to roam more freely. In pictures below elephants have chains around their front left ankles.