Maetaman Elephant Camp & Bamboo Rafting — Attraction in Chiang Mai Province

I went To Thailand in February 2019, on an organized trip. They brought us here and told us it was a clinic for elephants, a camp where they were not mistreated but where, rather, they were cared for. We hiked on the back of an elephant, went to the river in front of the camp and from there saw a separate area, with a different entrance from the one they had let us in. There elephants were dancing to music and painting. We were told that it was a different park and had nothing to do with the one we had been taken to. What I firmly believe, even after doing some research on Google, is that it was the same camp. When we came back from the trip on the river, I took a picture of a trainer with a strange tool, equipped with a hook with which he "trained" the animals (injuring them). You can see it in the photo below. Unfortunately at the time I didn't realize where they had taken me. I even bought a photo and some souvenirs of the experience and posed for a photo with one of the elephants accompanied by a trainer. I realized later, looking at the photos I had taken, what I had photographed. I am an animal lover and I think what they did by taking me to a camp like this was a great wrong. And a scam. Caught up in the excitement of seeing these magnificent creatures living in what, as they had led me to believe, I assumed was their natural habitat, or at least a place of peaceful coexistence between animals and humans, I did not realize they were cheating me. And this would not be so bad if it were not for the fact that the greatest damage is done to these beautiful and intelligent creatures at the expense of us, unwitting tourists. Stay away from this place if you don't want to face a great disappointment and an even greater bitterness. STAY AWAY FROM THIS PLACE FOR THE WELFARE OF THE ELEPHANTS. These barbaric practices must stop. Those who use them for sustenance are wrong, and must at all costs change their methods. And, if you want to go to an elephant park in Thailand (but I think this can be applied to any park or reserve with animals around the world) check that the animals are not mistreated and that it is a serious company that manages the facility FIRST, even if you booked the trip from a...

Outrageous unfriendly tourist rip off and animal maltreatment!

We went there by motorcycle, not any organised trip. My wife intended to have an elephant ride for the first time, my son and me didn't. They charged 1000 Baht for one person for a 30 min ride, 2 people on the same elephant should be 2000 Baht! Starting point had to be across a river over a hanging bridge. My son and me was told in a very unfriendly manner, that we are not allowed to accompany her to there. First, we didn't believe and asked again to take some pics there. They told us, pics could be done by other third party people (I guess to be sold) and insisted on this prohibition. So I forced the money back and we all three went over the bridge to only have one pic of the location. At the same moment, when we just reached there, some staff reject us and prevented any photo.

We went ahead the street, because there is one more "elephant camp" a few kilometers more far on G-maps. Just arrived there, we recognized, that this is a second place of the same company. This place was fully crowded with tourist buses, the staff was busy with the people, and so we could go around unmolested and had some pictures of a few elephants remaining behind the scenes. But this pictures are not really, what You like to see: maltreated creatures, independent from the age, young and old. They fixed the legs with extremely short chains on the ground, so that this big proud and intelligent animals, which naturally have a multiple square km area to move, are not even able to set their feet for more than 40 cm! I will prove this later after developping my RAW pictures end of the holiday on G-plus.

The best thing, You can do: don't support this cruelty by booking anything here.

All the elephant centers around are promising in their advertising to treat their animals good and that they live happy. What a ton of lies! I'm afraid, at the other places it might be the same.

Addendum: We saw a lot more of this parks by travelling down to the south. All the same everywhere! Look my pictures as...

When booking this tour, i was told its an elephant sanctuary where you see them in their natural habitat. But this place is whole other story. Its a money making circus where these beautiful creatures are being abused. There are buses and buses of people coming to this place everyday to do these tours. These poor elephants carry 2 people (probably over 100kg) everyday, back and forth through the river, up and down a tiny muddy stairs and through the jungle. The trainer beats their head if they slow down, i personally saw so many elephants with bleeding wounds on the head from the trainers. Soo soo sad. Even for the show, the trainers were hitting them with a stick to get them to do something. Even the babies.

And they have trained these elephants to ask for money at every single stop. They have multiple shops on the way selling bananas for the elephants, if we are here to witness the elephants in their natural habitat, their food should be given to us to feed them for free..not make us pay 30baht to feed them. Another money making scheme

On top of that the trainer asks for a tip. Arent we already paying money to do this ride? The trainers do not say hello, or introduce themselves, they do not acknowledge us at all on the ride, yet they demand a tip..it is the most ridiculous thing i have seen. This is my first time to thailand, after seeing this, i willl never participate in any animal related activities in this country...