Karen Elephant Oasis

Support the Elephants at Karen Elephant Oasis

The Covid-19 coronavirus has caused severe challenges around the world and has placed extreme limitations on travel. As a result, Karen Elephant Oasis has been temporarily closed. We are doing the very best that we can to properly care for the elephants at our project, but need your support. We understand that this is a difficult time for many people around the world and offer our heartfelt sympathy. If you are in a position to help buy food for our elephants, any gift would be greatly appreciated – karenelephantoasis@gmail.com.

Asian Elephant Projects Shop

Shop for the Elephants

Enjoy an intimate experience with Thai elephants at this elephant sanctuary, located in a beautiful jungle setting, 1.5 hours from Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand. The project was established in August 2018 and is operated by a Karen family who welcomed the transition to our ‘Saddle Off’ model to provide a better life for their elephants.

The project is home to two beautiful female elephants who were previously employed to do bareback riding. The Karen family has cared for and worked with elephants for generations and since returning their elephants to their jungle home have observed a marked improvement in their overall health and mood.

Guests to Karen Elephant Oasis will be treated to an intimate experience with elephants in spectacular surroundings that include a beautiful stream and jungle that forms an impressive canopy over the landscape. As part of a small group, visitors become acquainted with the elephants while hand feeding them bananas and sugarcane. An experienced English speaking tour guide will be on hand to provide you with interesting facts about the elephants and their stories. A highlight of this tour is taking a hike with the elephants along hilly jungle trails, stopping to observe the elephants in their natural habitat – foraging on carefully selected native plants and deftly navigating the slopes.

After your hike, a vegetarian buffet lunch is served overlooking the stream, valley, and jungle hills. Next, guests learn to make healthy treats for the elephants from rice husks, tamarind and bananas, using traditional Karen methods, which are later fed to the appreciative elephants. Other activities include a mud bath which protects the elephant’s skin and bathing the elephants in a beautiful cascading stream.

By choosing Karen Elephant Oasis, you are helping to make it possible for a Karen family to provide a non-stressful, healthy, caring environment for their elephants where they are free to interact and forage in their natural habitat.

Experience a close encounter with elephants under the jungle canopy and observe them foraging in their natural habitat

Activities

Tour Details

Guest Limit: 8
Number of Elephants: 2
Tour Type: Full Day Visit
Fitness Level: Challenging
Age Suitability: Adults & Children 12+

What's Included

Tour Price

Adults & Children 12+: 2,500 Thai Baht

Ethical Elephant Tours
This is a small Saddle Off project with a limited number of guests. Our model is based on ensuring the well-being of the elephants, which means no riding or other unnatural activities.

About Your Trip

Start: 8:00am – 8:45am minivan pick up from your Chiang Mai city hotel, or from our office at 7:45am. If staying out of town (outside the middle ring-road) additional charges apply. Please advise on your reservation form.
Travel Time: Around 90 minutes (safety talk en route to project).
Travel Details: Transfer from an air-con minivan to a 4WD pickup for the last 10 minutes of your journey to the project.
Return: Arrive back in Chiang Mai city 4:00pm – 4:30pm.
Baggage Allowance: One small day pack per person.
What to Bring: Hat, sunscreen, walking shoes, sandals/flip flops, change of clothing (as you may get muddy or wet), towel, camera, insect repellent and refillable water bottle.
Facilities: Lunch area, viewing platform, bathrooms, showers, water dispenser, coffee & tea.
Items Provided: Traditional Karen shirt, towel, shampoo & soap, boots & ponchos in the rainy season.
Operational Months: All year round.
Age Suitability: Adults and children over 12 years old – guests under 18 must be accompanied by an adult.
Fitness Level: Challenging – walk through the jungle for about 1 1/2 hours along mountain paths with some steep sections which can be muddy & slippery in the rainy season.
Topography: Jungle, hills, river & valley.
Location: Mae Wang, south of Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand.
Nearest Airport: Chiang Mai (CNX) – we recommend you stay in Chiang Mai city the night before your visit. Please note that we cannot collect you from Chiang Mai Airport – only from your Chiang Mai city hotel.
Booking Details: Bookings close at 5pm (GMT+7) on the day before the date of your tour if made in person at our office or 24 hours in advance if booking online. The balance should be paid at our Chiang Mai office by 8pm on the day before your tour.

Project Background

Project owner, Khun Tee, grew up around elephants in the Karen tradition and learned a lot about elephants from family members. His grandfather worked with elephants in the logging industry, which came to an abrupt end with the 1989 ban and his father carried on the tradition of working with elephants in the tourism industry. After leaving home to study in the city and work, Tee spent a few years working at Elephant Highlands where he learned to cook. When Tee heard about the ‘Saddle Off’ program, he decided to stop renting his elephants and bring them home to live close to their natural habitat and be visited by guests who respected them. The project spans 20 acres and is a family run affair with traditional Karen values. Khun Tee says that the two female elephants at the project – Mae Bo Bae, born 1988 and Mae Por, born 1998 – have greatly benefited from being able to live a more natural life in their jungle home. They are now more relaxed and their overall physical health has also improved. Mae Bo Bae likes her personal space when it comes to people, however, Mae Por doesn’t mind being touched lovingly. Khun Tee prefers people to respect the space of the elephants and not crowd around them to avoid causing them undue stress. Food for the elephants is bought from local farmers and the family grows an abundance of tall grass on their land to supplement their diet.

How Karen Elephant Oasis is Eco friendly & Sustainable

Family grows food for the elephants including grass, bananas and sugarcane at their nearby village.
Bananas, sugarcane and additional food for the elephants are purchased from local farmers.
The family grows rice and other vegetables at their village for the guests who visit the project as well as flowers.
All crops are grown organically - no chemical fertilizers or pesticides are used.
Elephant dung is composted and used to fertilize the gardens and crops.
Rubbish is recycled, leftover food is given to the pigs at their village.
The project provides a water dispenser - guests are offered one plastic water bottle at the beginning of the day which they can then refill or they can use their own refillable water bottle.
Project structures incorporate natural materials including bamboo, reclaimed wood, and leaf roofing.