Visiting the Elephant Nature Park in Thailand was quite honestly one of the best days of my life.

Prior to travelling to Thailand, I knew I wanted to visit an elephant sanctuary. I did a lot of research to determine which organization was the most ethical, and Elephant Nature Park seemed to be the best choice.

(If you want to see more about my experience, I made a short video that you can view here!)

Elephant Nature Park & What to Look for in an Elephant Sanctuary

There are some organizations out there that don’t have very ethical practices, such as forcing elephants to do unnatural things like playing games, allowing 10+ people on a tour, or providing elephant rides to guests. If a place advertises riding an elephant, stay away. Please don’t partake in subjecting these incredible animals to that. Yes, elephants used to be used for riding, but that is not what they are made for.

The Elephant Nature Park has elephants in many locations throughout northern Thailand, and they have all been rescued from riding camps or circuses. While the most ideal situation would be to set them free in the wild, it’s actually very dangerous for the elephants. With population growth, there are few places for elephants to roam completely free nowadays without human involvement.

Elephant Nature Park has single, half day, and overnight visits, and they also provide opportunities to volunteer at the park. The activities you get to participate in depends on the program you choose. For some programs, you only get to observe the elephants, while with others you have opportunities to walk alongside these gentle giants and help bathe them at the end of the day.

I chose a full day trip through the “Sunshine for Elephants” project, which is home to two elephants: Tamon and Sriprai (pronounced Tah-moan and See-pie).

Meeting & Feeding the Elephants

Me and five others were picked up in Chiang Mai and drove about 40 miles to the sanctuary. Once we arrived, our guide discussed safety and how to act around the elephants. He emphasized that elephants are very intelligent animals, so if you’re nervous, they will sense that and be less trusting. Personally, I wasn’t scared about meeting the elephants—I was elated.

After the initial briefing, we prepared hundreds of bananas to feed the elephants, then we waited eagerly for the elephants to arrive. The mahouts—or elephant caretakers—encouraged the elephants to follow a certain direction, but it was ultimately their decision as to how long they took and where they actually went. Though, the elephants seemed eager to meet us.

We could hear the distant thud of giant footsteps as the elephants approached. When they eventually came into view, we introduced ourselves behind a fence so we could become familiar with each other without getting too close right away. We did this by offering them the bananas, and we all hit it off right away.

The elephants took the bananas directly from our hands with their trunks and put the fruit in their mouths themselves. It was incredible to observe how nimble they were, utilizing their trunks like we use hands. They also allowed us to touch their trunks, which were a completely different texture than I had imagined. I thought they would feel really leathery, but I forgot elephants have hair, so they were actually quite rough and prickly.

Walking with the Elephants

Once Tamon and Sriprai felt comfortable with us, we started walking along a path through the woods, feeding them more bananas from our bags along the way. Elephants eat up to 300 pounds a day, so we also stopped often for them to grab some leafy greens. They would eat anything they found like leaves, grasses, and sometimes would pull down small trees for a fuller snack.

Walking alongside these animals was incredible. I can see why some people would be scared because they’re such big creatures, but the nickname “gentle giant” is so accurate. Elephants are patient and very intelligent, and they don’t want to harm people who have no intention of harming them.

After walking for a while, we split up so the elephants could continue eating in the forest while we went on to eat some lunch of our own. The sanctuary provided us with a delicious meal complete with papaya salad and mango sticky rice.

Following our meal, we went to work making a nutritious treat for our new friends. This treat was a mixture of rice, bananas, and some other nutritious ingredient that I can’t remember now, and after mixing we formed everything into baseball-sized balls. Tamon and Sriprai eventually joined us, and we began feeding them the rice balls.

Now again, the elephants took the bananas from us using their snouts—this situation was a little different. This snack was mushy and could easily break apart, so we had to put them directly into their mouths. I had never seen an elephant’s mouth before and, let me just say, elephant tongues are weird y’all.

Once all of the rice balls were consumed, we started walking through the forest again. Amid their frequent stops for leafy snacks, the elephants would often scoop up dirt with their trunks and throw it onto their heads/backs. They do this to keep bugs away and to keep cool in the humid Thailand heat.

We continued feeding Tamon and Sriprai bananas along the way, and at one point both elephants were walking on either side of me, both trying to steal from my bag. One of the mahouts noticed and offered to take a photo, and it was at this moment that one of my favorite pictures ever was taken:

Whenever I look at this photo now, I just start grinning. I can’t express through words how incredible that moment was—to be so up-close with elephants. It didn’t feel real.

Bathing the Elephants

To cap off our day with Tamon and Sriprai, we all got to cool off in the river and help bathe them. The sanctuary provided us with clothes to wear, however I’d definitely recommend wearing a bathing suit underneath or bringing a change of undergarments—you don’t want to be soaked for the 40-mile ride back.

The elephants really seemed to enjoy relaxing in the river and even crouched down to allow us to reach their backs to pour water over.

If there was any point in the day when I was worried about getting trampled, it was this moment. The water was very murky so I couldn’t see where the elephant’s legs were, so we just had to exercise caution and be aware of the elephant at all times. The elephants told us when they were done with the bath by standing—so again, had to be very aware.

“Bath time” was really just a way for the elephants to cool off, because as soon as they stepped out of the water, they threw more dirt on themselves.

Saying Goodbye

Following the bath, we said goodbye to Tamon and Sriprai so they could enjoy the rest of the day to themselves. We only stayed with the elephants for about four hours, and this particular program only has one small group a day to allow elephants to have lots of time to be their elephant selves.

After we hosed ourselves down and dried off, we were met with fresh fruits like lychee, pineapple, and papaya. Then, we got back in the van and headed back to Chiang Mai, our stomachs full and our souls richer.

It’s been over a year now since visiting the Elephant Nature Park, and I still can’t believe I met these beautiful giants. I’m jealous of the mahouts who get to be with them every day. Elephants are such gentle, happy creatures who deserve nothing but love (and lots and lots of food).

Yeah soooo that was the best day of my life 🙂