Lanna Elephant Care
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Two adult elephants and a young calf, all coated in mud, stand pressed close together in a muddy clearing with forest behind them

Ban PongHang DongChiang Mai

Every elephant is family.

Half a day on the Samoeng road outside Chiang Mai with a few elephants and the people who look after them. Feed them. Walk with them. Get soaked in the river.

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Google Maps
4.9 from 271 reviews
Owner
Women-owned business
Half day
THB 1,300 per person

01Arrive

First, the introductions.

Lanna Elephant Care is in Ban Pong, on the road to Samoeng, home to a small family of elephants. You meet your guide and change into traditional clothes, ready to get wet. Then your guide tells you who is who.

Two smiling guests in straw hats and woven tops stand by a bamboo fence with a young elephant between them, its trunk raised, and two adult elephants behind
Straw hats, and a trunk raised to say hello.

02Feed

Hands out. Trunk in.

First, the food: you prepare fruit and make a healthy vitamin ball, the elephants’ herbal medicine. Then a trunk finds your palm, takes what you offer and comes straight back for more. Your guide shows you how to hold it out.

An elephant reaches its trunk towards a line of smiling guests in woven tops on a grassy field; one guest looks back at the camera

“Feeding them was unforgettable, and everything was done with the animals’ well-being in mind.”

Agathe T. · Google review

On the open field, with the forest behind.

03Walk

Then, a walk at their pace.

“Amazing place, very chill, small group of elephants, small group of tourists.”

From Google review highlights

You walk around the park with them, not ahead of them, and watch them play in the mud pit. The young one tests the air with its trunk; the older ones keep it close. Nobody hurries an elephant, so nobody hurries you.

A young elephant walks across dry open ground with its trunk curled high, an older elephant close behind it, and a river behind them
Across the open ground, trunk up.
A guest laughs beside a wet elephant in a shallow, sunlit river while water arcs through the air and others throw water from bowls

04River

Into the river.

On to the river, where they like to play. Wade in. You wash them; they wash you back. The clothes are meant to get wet.

Guests in woven tops wade through a shallow river with buckets and bowls while elephants stand in the water around them
Bowls, buckets, and the occasional direct hit.

05Ask

Ask the people who know them best.

All the way through, the guides talk about how elephants behave, their history in Asia, and the elephants you have just met. Ask anything you like. Guests remember their guides by name.

These elephants come from generations that lived alongside people. Releasing them into the wild now would be neither safe nor fair to them. So the aim here is to live together, with love and respect.

  • Tony“Tony was a great guide, and funny, too!”Mark K. · Google review
  • Temo“told us a lot about elephants in Asia and their history”Aneta K. · Google review
  • Shaw“our guide Shaw was super”Brent L. · Google review
How they are cared for
In Lanna Elephant Care’s own words: “No chains, no punishment, no pressure.”
A smiling group of guests in woven tops poses between two elephants who both curl their trunks up over their heads
And yes, there is time for the photo. “…a large portion of the ticket price goes towards elephant care…” Lune · Local Guide · Google review
A smiling guest in a striped woven top rests his head and hand against an elephant's trunk beside a bamboo rail
One last hello.

06Goodbye

And then, goodbye.

A Thai meal to finish. Wet, happy and a little tired, you say goodbye to the family. Guests write about it afterwards the same way: kind people, well-cared-for elephants.

“It was wonderful to spend time with elephants in a place that truly respects and cares for them.”

Agathe T. · Google review

07The half-day, in numbers

Morning or afternoon.

Two sessions a day, booked ahead. Transport is included: we pick you up and bring you back.

Morning
Pickup 08:00–08:30Back 12:30–13:00
Afternoon
Pickup 13:00–13:30Back 17:00–17:30
Half day
THB 1,300 per personMorning or afternoon, transport included
Private group
THB 1,500 per personMinimum 8 people
Included
Transport is included. The clothes, the food you prepare and the Thai meal are part of the day.
Book a visit Ask on WhatsApp

08What guests say

4.9 on Google Maps, from 271 reviews.

From Google’s review tags: elephant interaction 26 · feeding elephants 24 · washing elephants 16 · cute elephant 14 · elephant conservation 9

Read them on Google Maps

  • Brent L.
    Google review

    “We had a wonderful morning at Lanna. The staff were kind and our guide Shaw was super. We got to spend so much time with the elephants, feeding them, walking with them, washing them in the river, getting loved and blessed (soaked!)…”

  • Mark K.
    Local Guide

    “Great for tourists visiting Chiang Mai or anyone that wants to see well-cared for elephants up close. Tony was a great guide, and funny, too!”

  • Aneta K.
    Local Guide

    “We realy enjoyed this sanctuary, you can see that the elephants have all the care that they need.”

  • PitbullMMAUK
    Local Guide

    “This place is a hidden gem! Lanna Elephant Care is run by a wonderful team of super friendly staff!”

09Plan your visit

Fifteen minutes past Ton Kwian.

Where
119/101 Ban Pong, Hang Dong District, Chiang Mai 50230. About 15 minutes from the Ton Kwian junction, on the road to Samoeng. Open in Google Maps
When
Morning session: pickup 08:00–08:30. Afternoon session: pickup 13:00–13:30. The park is open 9:00 to 16:30.
Book
Book a visit online: pick a date and a session. Questions first? Ask on WhatsApp.
Contact
084 229 4998 (+66 84 229 4998, also WhatsApp)
Line ID 084-2294998
Also 095 516 4553 and 098 815 4944
Good to know
Please book ahead, especially around public holidays, when it gets busy. Guides speak English and Chinese.
Schematic map: from Chiang Mai city south to the Ton Kwian junction, then west along the Samoeng road to Lanna Elephant Care in Ban Pong Chiang Mai Ton Kwian Samoeng road · about 15 min Lanna Elephant Care Ban Pong, Hang Dong Schematic, not to scale Open in Google Maps
An elephant in the river sprays a high arc of water from its trunk over guests in woven tops, one of them washing an elephant with a bowl

Come and meet the family.

Pick a date and a session. THB 1,300 per person, transport included.

Book a visit or ask on WhatsApp

“Thank you very much for your support of the elephants.”

The owner, replying to guest reviews
Half day, morning or afternoon
THB 1,300 per person Book a visit