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ThailandDescription and is it worth a visit
Everyone knows the elephant farms in the neighboring province of Chiang Mai, and most often when they talk about such places in the north of Thailand, they automatically mean Chiang Mai right away. However, in Chiang Rai province there are several elephant nurseries where you can get acquainted with these animals, which are considered sacred in Thailand.
There are 2 elephant camps located here, which are positioned as non-tourist places where animals are rescued, and you can visit them to look after them as a volunteer. But, of course, there is no way to do without traditional elephant riding, because this is the most popular service among tourists, and farms somehow need to earn money. We do not justify this, but simply state it as it is. And if you look at it from the other side and deeper, then people have been taming and using elephants for economic and military purposes for many centuries, so riding tourists on elephants is actually just a continuation of this traditional exploitation of animals, there's nothing you can do about it.
In general, anyway, you can come to one of the farms in Chiang Rai just to ride elephants through the jungle, or you can spend time here as a volunteer to look after them yourself. In the simplest form, this includes feeding and bathing, and in more complex versions you have to clean up after them, and you will also be taught to communicate with them and give simple commands. Moreover, you will have to take care of elephants for your own money, it's not free.
Here are the famous tourist elephant farms in Chiang Rai:
- Chang Puak Camp ChiangRai Mini Zoo. It's just a zoo with different animals, among which there are elephants and you can ride them.
- Ruammit Elephant Camp. Allegedly, this is an elephant farm of the Karen tribe. There is also a long-necked village with a paid entrance, and you can ride elephants, nothing more.
- Elephant Peace Project. Perhaps this is the only and most real camp for the maintenance and care of elephants. If you want not just to ride, but to learn more about them and "chat", then it's best to go here.
- Elephant Steps Chiang Rai. This is another animal rescue center (not only elephants), where they are cared for and kept in good conditions. It is also recommended to visit, but it is located further from Chiang Rai and it is difficult to get to it.
🕐 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 – 150 baht (approximately 9.19 USD, see Thailand's currency and exchange rate), elephant riding - 300 baht. Half–day tour with transport from Chiang Rai - from 1800 baht (approximately 55.14 USD), for a full day from 2000 baht (approximately 61.27 USD). Volunteering and training are possible for free, but 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 city, 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.
For trips around the province in Chiang Rai, you can rent a car from 1000 baht (30.64 USD, money of Thailand, exchange rate) or motorcycle from 250 baht (7.66 USD), more details about transport in Chiang Rai told here...
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: