New Elephant Home — Attraction in Chiang Mai Province

PLEASE READ AND SEE EVIDENCE BEFORE VISITING

New Elephant Home is owned by the Chokchai family, and has supposedly been taken over by a more ethical son after the father passed away a few years ago. There is huge emphasis on their transformation over the last few years, only possible with the support of tourist funding and donations.

It is very important to note that less than a 2 minute walk away is the Chokchai Elephant Camp (please look up their very poor 1 star reviews). This was owned by the father, and after his passing, is still owned by the same Chokchai family. This so called "sanctuary" continues to use bull hooks, continues to give elephant performances therefore requires training/punishment, continues to offer elephant rides, continues to use chains. Yet, on their website, they somehow argue that the elephant are happy because they flap their ears and are always well cared for.

To me, it seems like they decided to maximize their profits; receive donations and funding for the new home, yet still cash in on the cruel practices next door. Do the same elephants from New Elephant Home just stroll over to Chokchai Elephant Camp when it's time for the daily elephant show, or when an ignorant tourist decides they want to Instagram their elephant ride? How do we know for sure these are not the same elephants?

The Chokchai family will argue that these are now 2 separate businesses that are run differently. PLEASE DECIDE FOR YOURSELF WHETHER THIS...

I had an unforgettable experience at New Elephant Home in Chiang Mai, and I can’t recommend it enough! From the moment we arrived, the hospitality and care for the elephants were so evident. Our guide, Mary, was an absolute gem. Hailing from Myanmar, she was not only funny and kind but also spoke excellent English, making the whole experience both informative and enjoyable. She shared so much knowledge about the elephants, their backgrounds, and the sanctuary’s mission. You could really feel the love and respect she has for these magnificent creatures – truly a beautiful human being!

During the tour, we had so much fun! We chopped fruits like pumpkins, bananas, and sugar cane to feed the elephants by hand, and even had the chance to shower with them in the river. One of the highlights was meeting the baby elephant, who was just over a year old – so cute and full of energy! There are 16 elephants at the sanctuary, all rescued and now living freely on this vast, peaceful land that feels like their heaven.

The day was well-organized, and we were provided with lunch, local clothes, and water throughout the experience. The whole experience was a 10/10, and I’ll definitely return if I’m ever in Chiang Mai again. A huge thank you to Mary and the entire New Elephant Home team for making this such a memorable day. Oh, and Mary – I’ll be back to teach you more about Hungary...

Overall amazing experience!

We booked a half day afternoon trip, and prep'ed food for the elephants, fed them, plus walked them on a short hike. Our guide, Mumu, speaks fluent Chinese. She is quite humorous and explained the elephants on the facility well. The elephants are friendly and gentle, with no signs of mistreatment at this facility (the mahouts only got a sugar cane stick and when the elephants forage for food during the hike, we just waited for it and the trainer guided it with sugar cane). The hike can get muddy but the facility provided shirts, pants, sandals and towels which was quite convenient. One gentle elderly elephant (her name's something like Kandui) accompanied our group of 5 on the tour, and everyone got to spend some time with it.

We saw a few long neck tribe ladies onsite at New Elephant Home after the tour, and learnt a bit about their culture from the friendly tribesmen.

The only noticeable woe was the pickup/dropoff experience: pickup started from 11:00am, and we've a full minivan of guests so the pickup through Chiang Mai traffic didn't finish until 12:50pm, and we arrived at the facility at 13:45pm. We got a vegetarian buffet lunch first, did the tour and then left...