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ThailandDescription and is it worth a visit
It is believed that Chiang Mai is one of the best places in Thailand where you can get to know elephants, which are considered sacred animals in Thailand. There are about a dozen elephant nurseries in Chiang Mai Province, which, unlike similar places in popular resorts, such as Phuket, Pattaya or Koh Samui, position themselves as non-tourist. Many of them really take care of elephants, train them, and do not even allow tourists to ride them as entertainment. You can come to such a farm in order to look after them yourself, which in its simplest form includes feeding and bathing, and in more complex versions you have to clean up after them, and also you will be taught to communicate with them and give simple commands.
But to be honest, all this is in theory and this is exactly how the Department of tourism development of Chiang Mai is positioned. If you read the reviews of tourists about some elephant camps, then there really is an opinion that these are "camps" in the bad sense of the word, and I simply exploit animals there for the pleasure of tourists. So when choosing a specific place to visit on your own, we advise you to read the reviews (there are enough of them on Google maps, for example), and if you buy a tour, then choose farms without riding elephants if possible.
Recommended farms:
- Elephant Retirement Park
- Patara Elephant Conservation
- Chiangmai Elephant Legend
- The North of Thailand
- Elephant Nature Park
- Maerim Elephant Sanctuary
🕐 Working hours
In the daytime.
💵Entrance fee / ticket price
Prices are different everywhere and vary greatly depending on the program. For a reference point, just to go to the elephant nursery for photographing and feeding – 300 baht (approximately 9.19 USD, see Thailand's currency and exchange rate). Half–day tour with transport from Chiang Mai - from 1600 baht (approximately 49.03 USD), for a full day from 2000 baht (approximately 61.29 USD). Volunteering and training are possible for free, for this you need to contact nurseries and negotiate.
🚶 How to get there
There are a lot of elephant nurseries in Chiang Mai, but not in the city itself, they are scattered around the province in different places. You can see nurseries on the Google map, you will also see reviews about them there. If you rent a transport, you can come to the selected nursery yourself and pay the entrance fee on the spot. In the old town of Chiang Mai, each travel agency sells ready-made day trips, and you can also book tours directly on the websites of some nurseries with delivery from the hotel, their contacts can also be found on the Google map. However, prices when buying a tour in travel agencies on the street are even lower than on the websites of nurseries.
Friends, we remind you that it is much more interesting to get acquainted with the sights of Thailand with the help of excursions, and therefore we advise you to look at options with online booking and reviews on these excursion aggregators: