Ethical Elephant Sanctuary | Chiang Mai Thailand
Sunshine for Elephants was established to transform a former trekking camp into an ethical sanctuary for retired elephants near Chiang Mai. With a hard life of logging and being ridden behind them, the elephants now spend their days roaming the jungle foraging for native vegetation, cooling off in the river, and interacting with each other.
This ethical elephant sanctuary offers day trips, where as part of a small group, you’ll get to spend plenty of time observing elephants in their natural environment, witnessing their habits and behaviors. Walk along dirt paths that wind through the lush jungle, with mostly flat terrain as well as some uphill sections, feeding the elephants bananas along the way and witnessing them foraging. Guests also help preserve the elephant’s forest habitat by tying blessed ochre sashes around the trunks of trees to protect them from being cut down.
Arriving at a wooden hut atop the hill, overlooking stunning scenery and a small stream, learn to make som tum (Thai green papaya salad) and enjoy a delicious vegetarian buffet lunch, including home-made spring rolls and a delectable Thai dessert made with sticky rice and mangoes. After lunch, prepare banana health balls to hand-feed the elephants before walking downhill, back to the project, where visitors can watch the elephants swimming in the river from a wooden viewing platform. Later, guests enjoy seasonal fruits served overlooking a beautiful rock garden, while the elephants munch on grass.
By visiting Sunshine for Elephants, you are supporting responsible elephant tourism and helping to make this small ethical elephant project sustainable so that they can continue to provide a better, more natural life for the elephants.
Support the elephants at Sunshine for Elephants
Walk with the elephants in beautiful jungle surroundings, observing them foraging on native plants and interacting and help to protect their forest habitat
Activities at Sunshine for Elephants
Prepare Food for the Elephants
Walk with Elephants
Feed the Elephants
Observe the Elephants
Help Protect the Forest
Make Som Tum & Banana Rice Balls
Watch Elephants in the River
Walk with Elephants
Feed Elephants
Observe Elephants
Watch Elephants Swim
Activities
- Change into traditional Lanna clothing
- Wash and cut fruit and feed the elephants
- Walk through the jungle with the elephants along scenic trails
- Feed the elephants bananas along the walk in the jungle
- Tie blessed sashes around trees in the forest to protect them
- Learn to make som tum, traditional Thai green papaya salad
- Enjoy a vegetarian buffet lunch served in a bamboo hut in the forest
- Make banana health balls and feed them to the elephants
- Walk down hill back to the project with the elephants passing beautiful scenery
- Watch the elephants bathe in a beautiful section of the river
- Enjoy a fruit platter overlooking the rock garden & river
- Visit Elephant Nature Park to observe the herds
Tour Details
Number of Guests: 12
Tour Type: Full Day Visit
Fitness Level: Moderate to Challenging
Age Suitability: Adults & Children 4+
* Minimum of 4 people required for this tour to proceed
What's Included
- Transportation from Chiang Mai city to & from the project
- Food for the elephants
- Freshly prepared vegetarian buffet lunch
- Admission fee & insurance
- Qualified English speaking tour guide
Adults & Children 4+
Moderate / Challenging
Buffet Lunch
Transportation
Elephants at Sunshine for Elephants
Activities at Sunshine for Elephants
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 – 8:30am minivan pick up from your Chiang Mai city hotel, or from our office at 8:00am. If staying out of town, far from Chiang Mai city center you will need to arrange your own transportation to our Chiang Mai office.
Travel Time: Around 90 minutes (safety talk en route to 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, sandals/flip flops, change of clothing (as you may get muddy or wet), towel, walking shoes, camera & insect repellent.
Facilities: Main project area over looking the rock garden and stream, bamboo shelter in the forest for eating lunch, gift shop, bathrooms, showers, lockers, coffee & tea.
Items Provided: Traditional shirt & pants, hats, water holder, bag of bananas, sashes for tying around trees, ponchos in the rainy season, thongs, towels & soap.
Age Suitability: Adults & children over 4 years old – guests under 18 must be accompanied by an adult.
Fitness Level: Moderate to Challenging – 2.5 – 3 hour walk along jungle trails with some steep, possibly muddy slopes. After about 2 hours walk guests stop to eat lunch in a bamboo hut in the jungle.
Topography: Mountain, jungle, forest, river & waterfall.
Extra Activities: Tree planting in the rainy season and tying Buddhist sashes around trees to protect them in the dry season / learn to make som tum.
Location: Mae Taeng, 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 or guesthouse.
Booking Details: Bookings close at 4pm (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. A 30% non-refundable deposit is required to secure your booking. The balance should be paid at our Chiang Mai office by 5pm on the day before your visit to Sunshine for Elephants or by cash to the tour guide when they collect you from your hotel.
Order a Cake for the Elephants
Support the Elephants
Sunshine for Elephants Reviews
Sunshine for Elephants was one of the greatest experiences I have had in my life. The feeling of walking along side such a powerful creature that is both loved and treated humanely is something one can only dream of. I think about it every day. Our guide, Em, was great and so were the mahouts. The lunch was delicious and the bananas for the elephants were beyond. Next time we go back to Thailand we will absolutely do this project again. Thank you so much for providing such an amazing experience.
I had the very best day today! Thank you SOOOOO much! The whole day was amazing! Including the great tour guide Top. It was not a tacky touristy experience, like many others when you are travelling and feel ripped off! The food was in abundance & fresh, the mahouts were very polite & helpful but above all else the highlight was Tamon & Sri Prai who I adored…beautiful kind gentle girls. A day I’ll remember forever!
Without a doubt one of the best days of my life. I’ve done a lot of amazing things and this is in the top ten and I will never forget my time with Sunshine for Elephants.
I loved this so much and wish I could have fed the elephants all day long!!
Such a beautiful place. The only way anyone should experience elephants. Everyone has the elephants best interesting mind which is the most important. I can’t say enough good things.
Thank you for everything. This day with elephants was wonderful! We never forget that. You're a wonderful team! We have wonderful memories.
Thank you to the bookings team who accommodated us when not enough people booked onto this tour. We were so grateful that the project agreed to accommodate our party of 2 and basically gave us a private tour!
Art has been a great guide to us. He does not hesitate to share his knowledge about the project, the camp, and the elephants with us. We have gained so much valuable insights with all the information he shared. Although we did not get to swim/ bathe with Ta Nom and Sri Prai (as they did not feel like bathing for long that day), the experience feels very authentic and ethical. Thank you Asian Elephant Projects in helping these gentle giants live a better life, will recommend AEP to all those considering to support ethical elephant tourism in Thailand in a heartbeat.
Sunshine for Elephants We’ll be back! Trust me this is the ethical elephant tour for you! Myself and my partner were so excited for our special day. And after a lot of research I knew that I booked the right tour months in advance. There was a slight bump but Asian Elephant Projects handled it with such personalised care. Thank you to the booking team who accommodated us when there were not enough people booked on this tour and basically give us a private tour! Prom, our tour guide absolutely made our day. He was funny, kind, informative and attentive. The elephants are clearly loved and cared for, the whole day was run in a super relaxed and organic way and honestly how many people can say they spend an afternoon in the river with 2 amazing creatures. Thank you to everyone at ENP for what you do, Asian Elephant Projects for helping us to organize everything at your Saddle Off programs and Sunshine for Elephants for accommodating us and giving us the most special day! And thanks Ta Mon and Sri Prai (the elephants) for being beautifully gentle.
We had a great time during our visit at Sunshine for Elephants and enjoyed very much the ethical elephant sanctuary project! It was nice to see that the elephants could roam around and the mahouts were very gentle. Ta Mon and Sri Prai are lucky to be part of this project and so are we because we got to experience it. The elephants are loved.
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Project Background
This project is run by Kwan and her husband, who used to operate a small elephant camp that offered elephant riding. Many years ago one of the elephants fell ill, and they were unsure how to treat her. On the suggestion of a family member, they reached out to Lek Chailert, founder of Elephant Nature Park for help. Lek arranged for her vets to visit the camp and provide their elephant with treatment. It was at this time that they were introduced to the Saddle Off model and were eager to make the shift to a more compassionate, ethical form of elephant tourism that would provide a better life for the elephants under their care. The project is home to female elephants rescued from elephant riding and logging. Kwan and her husband enjoy seeing the elephants happy in their new lives, where they are free to wander and forage in the forest. Since their retirement the elephants have gained weight and are healthier and more relaxed thanks to being well cared for and given the chance to live a more natural life.
About the Elephants
Sri Prai
Sri Prai was born in 1990 and comes from Mae Sot in the west of Thailand, near the Myanmar border. In the past, she worked deep in the forest hauling logs in the illegal logging industry. Later, she was put to work at a remote trekking camp where she was forced to do elephant riding for many years before being sold. Sri Prai was rescued by Kwan and her husband in 2019 and came to live at Sunshine for Elephants. When she first arrived she was easily scared by unfamiliar sounds such as cars and motorbikes and was not so friendly with the other elephants. It took quite a long time for the trauma of her past to subside and for Sri Prai to feel at home. Sri Prai has changed a lot since being able to live a more natural life at Sunshine for Elephants -wandering in the forest without having to work. She loves to eat bananas and watermelon, and is also particularly fond of bamboo shoots, which she forages for in the forest, especially in the rainy season. Over the past few years Sri Prai’s life has improved greatly and she is a much happier, healthier, and more relaxed elephant nowadays. She has started to form a bond with Ta Mon and these two elephants can often be seen standing side by side, communicating and showing affection for one another.
In Loving Memory of Ta Mon
We are deeply saddened that Ta Mon, a beloved senior elephant in her 60s from Sunshine for Elephants, passed away on October 8, 2024. Ta Mon was a senior elephant, whose health rapidly deteriorated after the ordeal and stress caused by severe flooding which affected the project.
Ta Mon was born in 1960 and was forced to do elephant riding for most of her life. She worked at a trekking camp with a seat on her back carrying tourists, walking through the jungle and across the river in a daily grind, year after year. Her life was a lonely one with few elephant friends and constant work.
Ta Mon was rescued from a trekking camp in Mae Wang, south of Chiang Mai in 2015. Her previous owner sold her because she could no longer provide rides to tourists, and so she was seen as a burden. Sunshine for Elephants rescued Ta Mon to give her a second chance in life.
Though she arrived traumatized and suffering from digestive issues, her health improved over time, thanks to a special diet of fruit, grass, and natural vegetation and the chance to live a more natural life.
Ta Mon was a gentle, but determined elephant who loved roaming the forest with her friend Sri Prai, foraging for bamboo, taking mud baths, and relaxing in the river and wandering in the jungle where she could just be an elephant. Being an older elephant with worn down teeth she loved soft foods including bananas, cooked pumpkin, and rice banana health balls and of course fruit cakes.
Thank you to Kwan and her husband for giving Ta Mon a peaceful & dignified life and caring for her with kindness and dedication in her retirement years. Thank you to everyone who visited and supported her during this time. Ta Mon touched the hearts of many people and will always be remembered fondly.
In Loving Memory of Ta Mon 1960 - 2024 and Kanjana 1942 - 2022
How Sunshine for Elephants is Eco Friendly & Sustainable
- Elephants forage on native plants in the jungle and grass is grown at the project for the elephants
- Purchase bananas, watermelon and sugarcane from local farmers for the elephants.
- All crops grown organically – no chemical fertilizers and pesticides are used.
- The forest protection program invites guests to tie blessed ochre colored sashes around trees in the forest to protect them from being cut down. In the rainy season various trees are planted including mango and jackfruit trees.
- Elephant dung is used to fertilize the trees and gardens.
- Rubbish is recycled and left over food given to the staff and food scraps given to the dogs.
- Project structures incorporate natural materials including bamboo, farmed wood, and leaf roofing.
- Guests enjoy lunch in a wooden hut located at the top of the hill in the forest.
- This project has solar panels and so part of their electricity comes from solar power.
Thank You for Supporting the Herd at Sunshine for Elephants
The Covid-19 pandemic caused severe challenges around the world and placed extreme limitations on travel. As a result, Sunshine for Elephants was closed from March 2020 until early 2022. We would like to thank all of the kind hearted people who helped to support our elephants during this difficult time.
Life During Covid at Sunshine for Elephants
As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic severely impacting tourism there were almost no visitors to Sunshine for Elephants for 2 years. The elephants spent their days foraging in the lush jungle near the project eating a wide variety of natural vegetation, including bamboo, and the leaves of various native plants and trees. They also liked to drink from the stream and waterfall as well as cover themselves in dirt or mud and then scratch their bodies against trees. After a long walk, the elephants enjoyed cooling off in the river. The elephants also received a variety of fruit from time to time, including watermelon, papaya, mangoes, pumpkin and bananas depending on what is in season. Occasionally the elephants were treated to banana health balls made from rice, tamarind, protein pellets, and mashed bananas which they love so much. We really appreciate all the kind people who helped to buy food and supported the elephants during these challenging times.
