Elephant Retirement Park — Attraction in Chiang Mai Province

After having done the half-day activity, I have mixed feelings about this park. On one hand, it did not look to me like the elephants were in any obvious distress. The grounds were decently nice, the elephants willingly approached visitors for bananas, seemed to enjoy the baths (worth mentioning we did not see any elephant forced into the baths), and were overall given the freedom to roam around, munch on some greenery, etc. But on the other hand, it was one red flag after another: One elephant had cut like wounds on its ear, another one on its upper chest (a small one)… and a couple of the trainers carried strapped knives. Coincidence? I don’t know. I think the one with the cuts was a new rescue brought to the park 2 weeks ago. The guide said the knives are only used to cut down leaves along the path to give the elephants as snacks which we have observed, in all fairness, but I’m skeptical. The rest of the elephants did not appear to have any wounds or be otherwise unwell Every single elephant had a handler. Is that necessary considering the claim that the elephants get to roam around freely and « elephants can just be elephants » in the park? It also did not look like the elephants were particularly fond of their handlers and vice versa which is the biggest red flag to me Why did the elephants need ropes around their necks? They did not look comfortable The claim was that the elephants roam around freely but they were clearly brought to the front to greet tourists and then all « disappeared » along with their trainers as soon as the visitor activities ended. I understand the need for some fencing along the walking paths for safety reasons but the fencing was all barbed wires??? I suspect that was the reason for the cut on one elephant’s chest… Some elephants clearly did not want to interact with visitors. But they weren’t given the choice. Also handlers asked some of the elephants to perform some tricks like toot or spray water on visitors. I felt that was completely unnecessary. Overall, despite all the red flags, we still figured the elephants are better off in this park than where they were before (logging industry, circus, riding industry, etc.) but we have some real concerns about what happens with the elephants behind the scenes… A thought for park management: if you are advertising your business as an ethical elephant rescue, you will attract people who care for the wellbeing of elephants. They will be more attuned to signs of abuse or distress and much more willing to pay for experiences that do not involve forced interactions with the animals. Please get rid of ropes, barbed wires, knives, and the overbearing presence of handlers. Then your business will truly...

This was an amazing experience that we highly recommend. Me, my husband and two sons (10 & 8) did the ½ day experience. We were collected from our accommodation in Chiang Mai at 7.30am, then travelled with the rest of our group (8 of us in total) for an hour to the park. We had a drink and piece of toast on arrival then briefed about the elephants and what would happen. They gave us clear instructions on how to act with the elephants, so we stayed safe and so we didn’t frighten the elephants.

We started by feeding them sugar cane and getting used to stroking their trunks, then we fed them soy milk. We then walked with them into the park, all carrying a bag of bananas which we fed them. We then hung out with them, stroking them and watching them play.

Each elephant had their own mahout (handler) giving them instructions but also encouraging us on how and where to stroke them. My son even sat and hugged one elephants leg.

We had changed into swimsuits and the parks clothes before starting. We then helped scrub them with mud in their mud bath area, getting very muddy ourselves which was great fun. After that we all got in the water bath and washed all the mud off with bowls and scrubbing brushes.All of this is in muddy, squidgy, cold water, great fun.

After that we had a simple tasty vege and rice lunch. There was someone taking photos which we could have purchased. We then got driven back to Chiang Mai.

I’d recommend this park as the elephants seem really happy, there was no offer of riding them. The elephants have all been rescued. There was a Brazilian vet volunteering there for 3 months on our trip and she only have nice things to say about the park and the...

NOT a sanctuary - these animals are caged and coaxed into the water. Past reviews I’ve read tell that the trainers carried knives or screws and made the elephants perform tricks, they even used to have elephant rides quite a few years ago. Nothing was told to us about where the elephants were rescued from, there was also a baby and it seems after through past reviews that they are continually breeding the elephants as a way to make money. We were told we were going to a waterfall- it was a man made mud pit with a hose pipe. After looking into it I now know that elephants shouldn’t bathe this often, and you could see one of the elephants clearly did not want to enter the water however it was made to come in by the trainer.

The mum and baby elephant were inside a cage, and all elephants were put back in their cages after the tour. When we went for a walk with the elephants they would attempt to push their trainers over and one even pulled the hair of a trainer who laid down to take a nap with its trunk! Please do your research as there are ethical sanctuary’s in chiang Mai , this one was definitely a tourist attraction which I’m sad to have paid towards. The elephants are not free whatsoever unfortunately. There was also no safety talks at all which is quite telling that the elephants are trained for the majority of their lives.

There are also quite a few dogs roaming around who all looked terrified of people and the trainers which also made me doubt this place when...