Elephant Rescue Park — Attraction in Chiang Mai Province

Had an AMAZING experience at Elephant Rescue Park. We booked the overnight 2 day package and we highly recommend it.

Getting the opportunity during the evening to connect with the owner and operators of the park was very insightful and engaging. Very reassuring to hear how much the Park cares for their elephants and hear their (IMO) realistic view of how to promote an ethical and sustainable elephant experience.

I’ve seen how other parks choose to care for their elephants AND visitors and this park excels at both. So glad to learn during our extended tour that they have plans of expanding their park and giving their elephants a larger range to explore.

We had the pleasure of doing a private tour at the Elephant Rescue Park with Andy as our guide. We booked online, but I ended up reaching out via email to book our tour.

We got to feed 6 of the elephants bananas and 2 of them chose to go on a walk with us after!

Each of the elephants at the park have a live in caretaker paired with them, and they sleep in huts next to the elephants. We wore the red outfits so the elephants know that we are there to feed them, walk with them and bathe them! Our guide Andy was so knowledgeable and it was fascinating to see the elephants walk around doing whatever they wanted. They both had very different personalities. They eat so much!!! The older elephant tore down a whole banana tree and ate it along the walk lol. The younger one was scratching her body on anything she could find and eventually rolled around on the ground after we bathed her 🤣. Our guide said elephants only lay down when they feel safe, so it was so cute to see her being so playful. They are like big dogs!!!

After the other 2 elephants walked back, we helped put herbs on an injured elephant that had a knee/leg injury from being ridden for many years. They boil herbs and medicine and then have to lightly 'whip' the wet rag with herbs onto the swollen limb.

This was one of the best experiences of my life, and I'm so glad we found a park that creates a safe space for the elephants to play and heal while creating an enjoyable experience for visitors. 🤍🐘

Another huge shout out to our guide Andy for making this experience memorable in many ways, including taking beautiful candid photos of us with the elephants that we will look back on forever.

It is clear that the people who work at this park have a genuine love for caring for these elephants. If you are researching multiple elephant parks to book with, I urge you to go with Elephant Rescue Park. You will not regret it!! And another piece of advice -- there are a lot of copy cat parks who try to trick you into thinking they are like the elephant rescue park, but they rent their elephants and some even let you ride the elephants. That is not good for the elephants,...

This was simply amazing. The elephants here are so visibly happy. They love their care takers and they love each other. One recently rescued elephant at the park came here with her old owner (by request of the park) so that she could a-climate and grow close with the park staff so she doesn’t get stressed when her old owner leaves. Basically, it is clear how much the they care about these animals, their well being, and their feelings. They have you dress in their uniforms so the elephants recognize you as a friend right away. Unlike other “rescue” parks, these elephants each have their very own caretaker who is available for them at all times. They explained that elephants will actually get jealous if they don’t have your undivided attention! I thought that was sweet and funny. This place feeds the elephants organic and uses their own money to buy elephants to rescue them (the government doesn’t help). I very much recommend a private tour because 1. It’s awesome and very personal, and 2. The extra money is going straight to these elephants. This place is a huge part of the local community, they support farmers buying massive portions of organic fruits and grasses, the community leaves treats for the elephants like pumpkins and sugar cane, the poopoo recycling/paper factory provides jobs. And the mahouts (elephant care takers) are poor Thai people who originally had no place to stay. This gives them a free (and beautiful) place to live. All they have to do is adopt their own elephant! Lol. They really care for them like children. They let them take their time and roam and do as the please and it’s just so obvious that they love them and the elephants love them back. The way the elephants trust them is amazing. Beautiful experience. Would absolutely recommend. These elephants also live on 40 acres of jungle with pools of very clean water, trees, grasses, fruits, and everything an...