5 Tips For Visiting an Ethical Elephant Sanctuary in Chiang Mai
We should only visit places where you can look and not touch
Chiang Mai is known for its many elephant sanctuaries, and while most have stopped offering elephant riding and now call themselves "ethical elephant sanctuaries”, they often still allow visitors to touch, feed, and bathe the elephants.
According to World Animal Protection, interactions like bathing and selfies cause just as much suffering as elephant rides. That’s because for elephants to tolerate human-interaction, they have to undergo cruel and inhumane training methods. So as a general rule, we should only visit places where you can look and not touch.
5 things to look out for
No riding or performing tricks
Elephants should not be exploited for human entertainment. Elephant riding or making elephants paint pictures or perform tricks is stressful and unnatural behaviour. Since elephants are wild animals and not domesticated, they would not let humans ride them or perform human tricks by choice.
To make elephants submissive enough for riding, they often undergo a cruel training process known as “the crush”. This involves forcibly separating calves from their mothers and subjecting them to brutal physical and psychological torture until they submit to human control and can be controlled by fear.
No touching or posing for selfies
Although not seemingly as exploitative as riding, elephants posing for selfies means tourists are allowed to get close enough to touch them. This is still considered stressful and unnatural behaviour, as their natural instinct would be to avoid all forms of human contact.
True ethical sanctuaries instead adopt a hands-off approach, where you are allowed to look and observe them from a safe distance.
No direct feeding
Direct feeding can disrupt elephants natural foraging behaviours and social dynamics. It can encourage aggressive behaviour as elephants compete for food, increasing the risk of dangerous situations and injuries.
Popular programs like "breakfast in bed" where elephants hand deliver breakfast to guests’ rooms reinforce this harmful practice.
Instead, a true ethical sanctuary will allow you to observe elephants foraging in their natural environment. They might offer educational programmes where you can learn about elephant nutrition and prepare food and place it out for the elephants as enrichment so that it doesn't involve direct feeding. This approach ensures the well-being of the elephants and promotes a more natural experience for visitors.
No bathing
Tourist bathing experiences can be highly stressful for elephants, especially if it involves a whole heap of people around them, climbing on top of them. Elephant tours that promote bathing often involve multiple groups of tourists giving the elephants mud baths repeatedly, which is unnatural.
No baby elephants
If a sanctuary has baby elephants, it likely means that they are breeding them, unless its an orphanage for young rescued elephants. Captive breeding almost always guarantees that the babies undergo “the crush”. No responsible elephant sanctuary will engage in this horrible act.
Ethical Elephant Sanctuaries in Chiang Mai
Chang Chill
There are only a handful of elephant sanctuaries in Chiang Mai that ticks all these boxes. One of them is Chang Chill. It was originally an elephant camp that offered rides, but after discussing a new and ethical tourism model with World Animal Protection, they discontinued riding activities, made changes to infrastructure and practices to establish the Chang Chill of today.
Chang Chill has an amazing full-day programme and it’s located near Chiang Mai city. You’ll go on a short trek into the forest to find the elephants, learn about their past experiences, and see them interact with one another. You'll also be able to prepare food like protein balls and sugar cane for them and place them in no-touch feeding tubes.
Burm & Emily's Elephant Sanctuary (BEES)
If you have 2 days to spare, we highly recommend visiting BEEs elephant sanctuary for a more immersive experience.
Here, you’ll get to spend quality time observing these gentle giants in their natural habitat on a full-day observation walk and even get involved in their daily care like preparing yummy fruit buffets in a way that doesn't involve direct contact or feeding.
This 2D1N stay allows you to truly bond with these majestic creatures (from a safe distance) and was one of the highlights of our Chiang Mai trip. If you have more time, there's even a 4D3N or a week-long volunteer programme!
By choosing to visit ethical elephant sanctuaries that prioritise observation over interaction, we can contribute to the conservation of these magnificent creatures and promote a more sustainable and respectful form of elephant tourism.
If you’re looking for a true ethical elephant experience in Chiang Mai that ticks all the boxes above, check out these half-day or full day trips and volunteer programs here!
Frequently Asked Questions
Visiting an elephant sanctuary (or any wildlife sanctuary for that matter) while travelling can be a great way to learn more about wildlife and support local animal welfare and conservation efforts. You’ll also be supporting the awesome local community that care for the animals!
A general rule of thumb is that if a “sanctuary” allows you to get close to the animal, it’s most likely not ethical. The best elephant sanctuaries prioritise observation over interaction, and have no riding, no touching, no bathing elephants, and no up-close feeding policies.
Expect to learn about elephant conservation, elephant rescue, behaviour and the Thai sanctuary's elephant care work. You'll likely go trekking in small groups with a tour guide and mahout, to find them in their natural habitat, where you’ll observe them foraging in nature. A full day visit might also have food preparation activities that allow visitors to learn about the elephants’ dietary needs and prepare food and place it out for elephants as enrichment that doesn’t involve direct feeding and close-up selfies.
Yes, only in Krabi! This Krabi ethical elephant sanctuary offers an observation only approach to seeing elephants in their natural habitat, and is endorsed by World Animal Protection. Unfortunately, we have not found any Bangkok or Phuket elephant homes or elephant camps that we are comfortable with.
At Seek Sophie, we believe that wildlife should live as wild a life as possible. The best place to see wild Asian elephants is in the wild, in national parks: Kui Buri National Park, Khao Yai National Park, Khao Sok National Park. There are no national parks in Northern Thailand where you can find wild elephants; only elephant sanctuaries.
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