Chang Chill - visiting an ethical elephant sanctuary in Chiang Mai
Elephants are synonymous with Thailand. Wherever you are in Thailand, you won’t be far from the image of an elephant. Whether it's the ubiquitous, colourful, elephant print pants sold in every Thai market or the clinking of Chang beers in a bar, elephants are everywhere in Thailand.
Throughout Thailand’s history, elephants have been central to many aspects of Thai life. From the royal war elephants of the Thai kings, to logging and transportation of heavy goods. Elephants and the mahout (human handlers) are symbols of pride and strength and are emblems of Thailand.
Sadly though, the real thing, actual wild, live elephants are harder to come by. With less than 3500 elephants left in the wild, the only real way you should be seeing elephants in Thailand is at an ‘ethical’ elephant sanctuary.
In this elephant guide:
The dilemma and contradictions of an ethical elephant sanctuary
Our day with the elephants, a visit to ChangChill elephant sanctuaries
Disclosure: This article may contain affiliate links. We will earn a small commission from any purchases made through these links.
Why choose an ethical elephant sanctuary?
Choosing an ‘ethical’ elephant sanctuary is a must if you’re planning to see the elephants of Thailand.
There are many sanctuaries throughout Thailand that offer tours to see elephants, however these will usually include some form of touching, hand-feeding, bathing or even riding.
Elephants love to eat, love to play in water and love to bathe in mud, however like us, they like to do this on their own terms and don’t want to be forced into doing it. An ethical sanctuary will not permit any kind of touching, forced bathing and definitely no riding. Instead visitors will be brought into the elephant's habitat and allowed to observe these beautiful creatures from a distance.
If you’re in Chiang Mai, we can recommend booking a trip with Chang Chill elephant sanctuary. Read on to find out what to expect on your day with the elephants.
The dilemma and contradictions of an ethical elephant sanctuary
In a perfect world there would be no such thing as an “elephant experience". Elephants would be wild, free and protected in forests and parks away from human interference. Unfortunately, this is far from a perfect world.
As we’ve mentioned, in Thailand elephants have been used alongside humans for generations. When the logging industry was banned and the National Parks created (more on this later) this left thousands of elephants in limbo. Unable to live in the wild but unable to generate the money needed to feed them. Thailand pivoted its elephants towards tourism. This unfortunately led to elephant rides, elephant circuses and street performing elephants. Today thankfully, there are strict laws and most of this is a thing of the past*. Nowadays the focus is moving firmly towards treating these unwildable elephants as ethically as possible.
An ethical elephant sanctuary today is the best compromise available between the expensive business of feeding elephants that cannot be released into the wild and respecting these amazing, intelligent creatures. It’s not perfect, but currently it's the best solution.
*There are places in Thailand that still have elephant shows, riding elephants and other elephant exploitation - please do not encourage these with your patronage.
What is the Chang Chill ethical elephant sanctuary?
Chang Chill is an ethical elephant sanctuary located about an hour and half away south west from the city of Chiang Mai in northern Thailand.
Chang Chill is home to four elephants, all of which were saved from the logging and tourist industries.
The sanctuary is an ‘ethical’ elephant sanctuary offering tours to tourists. When visiting the sanctuary, visitors are only allowed to observe the elephants from a distance. There is strictly no touching, bathing or riding of the elephants.
Our day with the elephants - a visit to Chang Chill ethical elephant sanctuary
Our guide Wit cheerfully picked us up at 7.30am from the lobby of our accommodation in Old Town Chiang Mai. We bundled into the waiting minivan and headed out onto the streets of Chiang Mai to pick up our fellow travellers.
After everyone had been picked up, we quickly left the busy main roads and outskirts of Chiang Mai and began to wind ourselves up the sides of a steep mountain. We passed paddy fields full of water ready for planting, buffalos wallowing in the mud and market stalls piled high with colourful fruit and vegetables. After spending a couple of days in Chiang Mai, it felt refreshing to leave the busy streets and escape to the mountains.
As we wound our way higher, Wit gleefully shouted out from the front of the van that it was time to begin the “roller coaster” part of the journey as we headed steeper up the mountainside. He wasn’t joking as soon enough we were switch-backing our way up a near vertical road.
As we zig-zagged our way to the top of the mountain, the trees parted and we were treated to an incredible view down the stepped mountainside. The green stepped rice terraces, wooden houses and small villages felt a world away from the busy, modern city of Chiang Mai.
We pulled off the road and down a dirt track, bumping our way past tethered cows, flapping chickens and stilted wooden houses before eventually pulling in to a small lay-by which marked the end of the road.
We must admit at this point, we did question whether we had made the right decision and wondered if Chang Chill was as “ethical” as it had seemed, as in this small car park there were about sixty or so people and four minivans. Hoping that our fears would be laid to rest, we followed Wit through the small village. Quickly it became apparent that these minivan groups were all scattered far and wide around the sanctuary. Wit assured us that the elephants were never crowded by people and we would still get an intimate experience.
As we made our way past the rice paddy fields, Wit pointed to a tree and motioned to us to pick some small orange fruits. He explained that these were loquats.They were sweet and slightly citrussy, almost like a big grape.
We followed the raised mud paths across the paddy fields, criss-crossing our way to a wooden bridge which marked the entrance to the Chang Chill sanctuary.
Taking seats, it was time to refresh with tea, coffee and more importantly, bug spray! Wit explained that to see the elephants we’d have to leave the paths and delve deep into the forest. Mosquito-proofed (as much as we could be) and caffeinated we began our hunt for elephants.
By foot our group wound our way up a steep stone path behind the canteen area, when suddenly Wit pointed out a perfect, large plate sized footprint. He then ran to the other side of the path to point out a very large pile of fresh elephant dung. This pile of poo and a fresh set of elephant footprints meant that elephants had passed through very recently.
We continued on until we heard a muted trumpeting. Wit instantly asked us to hush and disappeared into the undergrowth. Signalling us to follow him, in silence we clambered over fallen logs, through thick bushes and past trailing vines until we saw the unmistakable mottled grey and pink skin of two elephants foraging in the undergrowth. We had stumbled upon the mother and daughter elephants of Chang Chill, Mae Gohae (mother elephant) and Mae Mayura (daughter).
The mother, Mae Gohae was born in the early 1970s and had spent most of her life in the logging industry, before moving to a trekking camp on the outskirts of Chiang Mai. Her daughter, Mae Mayura was born in 1989 and began her life logging in forests on the Thai/Myanmar border before being sent to Chiang Mai to carry tourists around the city. During their early days, both mother and daughter were separated for long periods of time and since being reunited at Chang Chill, the pair are almost inseparable.
Our group stood a good couple of metres away in silence and just watched as the mother and daughter went about their eating. Pulling leaves from the trees with their trunks, snorting through the undergrowth and trumpeting to each other. It was a beautiful sight. Instead of seeing the elephants parade around a gated enclosure, here they were just going about their day. After a short while, the pair headed off in the opposite direction and Wit signalled to us that it was time to leave.
We continued down a steep slope and headed deeper into the forest. We were quickly brought to a stop and asked to retreat as another elephant Mae Korn emerged and walked a couple of metres in front of us, pushing and eating her way through the thick foliage.
Mae Korn was born in 1987 in the province of Tak. Instead of logging, Mae Korn has spent the whole of her life in the tourism industry. At first she was a riding elephant, carrying tourists around on her back. Then she was sent to an elephant camp where bathing and feeding was allowed. Nowadays she happily roams around Chang Chill.
We waited until Mae Korn had moved a good distance away. Wit then led us to a small clearing below for us to observe her. We stood in silence and watched as Mae Korn munched her way deeper and deeper in the forest, using her trunk to pull leaves and vines from the trees. We watched until all we could see was her tail swinging in amongst the dense bushes and headed off in the opposite direction.
We came to a stop above the stepped rice paddies and listened as we could hear the sound of another elephant approaching. Suddenly above us, the trees parted as two large ears flapped their way through. It was time for us to meet the biggest elephant of the sanctuary Mae Too.
Mae Too was born in 1984 and belonged to a Karen hill tribe in the province of Mae Hong Son. Mae Too spent her early years dragging logs in the forestry industry before being transferred to a trekking camp in Chiang Mai.
Not even noticing our group watching her in the bushes, Mae Too passed by above us. Her eyes focused entirely on eating whatever she could find. We stood and watched as she disappeared into the jungle.
Wit explained that before 1989, elephants in Thailand were mainly used in the logging and forestry industry helping to drag fallen logs. In 1989, the Thai King, King Bhumibol banned logging and in its place created around 150 National Parks. The creation of these National Parks meant that there was no need for elephants and so a lot of the elephants were sent to the tourist industry for riding and bathing. Today there is more of a focus on ‘ethical tourism’ and with this, more and more ‘ethical’ elephant sanctuaries are being created in Thailand.
The four elephants at Chang Chill were all rescued from the logging and tourist industries, and as such will never truly be wild. As a result, each of the elephants have their own mahout which help to care and feed them. They also make sure that they don’t trample through the local farmers' paddy fields!
We left the paddy fields and clambered back up the steep forest to reach the road. Wit quickly stopped in his tracks and jumped to the side of the road. We followed suit and were soon greeted with the unmistakable sound of an elephant enjoying its lunch. Around the corner, a mahout appeared leading the towering Mae Korn towards us. Mae Korn plodded along slowly, focused entirely on chewing her way through the bundle of green grasses she was carrying in her trunk. She stopped right next to us and continued to eat. It was incredible to see her this close. In the jungle it was hard to make out her size, but stood right next to her, she towered over us. Her mahout eventually got her to move again, bribed by waving some more tasty grasses and she disappeared down the road.
We started moving again, but it wasn’t long until Wit asked us to stand at the side again. Pointing to the distance we could see the grey shadow of Mae Too moving towards us. Flapping her ears, Mae Too looked massive compared to Mae Korn. Taking up almost all of the road with her width, she slowly tramped past us, focussed entirely on her eating! As she disappeared from sight, it was time for us to head back to camp.
Heading back down past the rice paddy fields we arrived back at the “Elephant Food Storage” where Wit showed us bunches of yellow and green bananas and piles of long, dark purple, sugar cane. He pointed to logs and machetes and showed us how to cut up the sugar cane ready for the elephants to eat later that afternoon. Like us, elephants love their sugar!
After preparing the elephant food, it was time for our lunch. Wit jokingly said we were here to spend time with the elephants and so we’d be eating like the elephants “with an all vegetables feast”. We were treated to a creamy coconut, onion and potato curry, peanut noodles, fried eggs and vegetables. The food was delicious.
After lunch we took our seats in the covered decking area close to the river and waited for the elephants to come.
In the bamboo pipe troughs, the sugar cane we had cut up earlier had been fed through ready for the elephants to feast on. One by one the elephants emerged from the jungle.
We spent a good 45 minutes just watching the elephants curl their trunks up, under and through the hollow pipes, taking out the small chunks of sugar cane. It was incredible to watch. From the angle we were sitting, you could really see the dexterity of their trunks as they wound them around the purple canes. We sat opposite Mae Korn and Mae Too who seemed (despite their earlier jungle feast) to still be super hungry, and we watched as they greedily took out chunks of sugar cane in trunkfulls of three to four pieces.
Mae Gohae and Mae Mayura seemed to be more restrained and were delicately taking out the sugar cane piece by piece. When they had had their fill, they left their pipe still half full and headed back to the jungle. Much to the delight of the greedy Mae Korn and Mae Too!
After the sugar cane had been devoured, the mahouts of Mae Korn and Mae Too fed them nutrition balls full of rice, banana and medicine to help keep the elephant's healthy. As with the sugar cane, both elephants enthusiastically caught the balls by the trunk!
We were told by Wit that their diet is carefully monitored and these feeding times were balanced with their foraged diet. They are not always fed sugar cane as too much of it (much like humans) can cause diabetes. It was their treat day when we visited. When they see sugar cane on the menu, they go wild for it.
When they were finally full (elephants can eat a lot), Mae Korn and Mae Too headed back into the jungle. This signalled the end of our trip to Chang Chill, it was time to return back to the city.
As we headed back to our minivan we had one last glimpse of Mae Korn and Mae Too as they headed to the stream to drink.
Chang Chill essential information
How to book an elephant tour
Booking a trip to visit the elephants at the Chang Chill sanctuary is easy.
Just head over to their website, choose the length of the program, the day you’d like to visit and the number of visitors.
Which program to choose?
This is entirely up to you and depends on your schedule.
We chose to visit during the morning, but Chang Chill also offers the same program during the afternoon.
If you’re after even more elephant time, then Chang Chill also offers one or two day programs. Check their website for more details.
Travel to and from the Chang Chill Elephant Sanctuary
Chang Chill will arrange for a mini bus to collect you / drop you back off to any hotel or guesthouse in or around Chiang Mai’s Old Town.
When you book your trip, just make sure you include the address of where you will be staying.
For those looking for a luxury break in the Old Town, we can recommend a stay at the Viang Luang Resort Hotel or the Sirilanna Hotel. Both hotels offered beautiful rooms, outdoor swimming pools and breakfast.
For those more on a budget, we've had fantastic stays at the Chana Place guesthouse in the south of the Old City and Rendezvous Old Town guesthouse to the north. Both guest houses had comfy beds, warm showers and were within walking distance of all the main sites.
To check out all available accommodation within Chiang Mai's Old Town, check out the map below:
How much does a visit to Chang Chill Elephant Sanctuary cost?
For our half day visit to the sanctuary, we each paid 1900 THB.
This included transport to and from our hotel in Chiang Mai to the sanctuary, free tea and coffee, a guided walk through the forest to see the elephants, and a vegetarian lunch.
If you’d prefer a full day visiting the sanctuary, a day trip will cost 2500 THB per person and for those looking to spend even more time with the elephants, a two day trip (including accommodation close to the sanctuary and meals) will cost you 5500 THB each.
Other ethical elephant sanctuaries in Chiang Mai
There are few other “ethical” elephant sanctuaries you can visit in and around Chiang Mai, with the most popular being the Elephant Nature Park.
The Elephant Nature Park offers both morning/afternoon visits as well as longer volunteering opportunities, check out their website here.
Final thoughts
We cannot recommend a trip to Chang Chill enough. We loved observing the elephants in their natural habitat, watching them as they wound their trunks through the undergrowth finding food to eat. It felt completely natural and we loved how unfazed the elephants were when they walked past us.
A lot of people could argue that this isn’t wild enough, that the elephants aren’t ‘truly wild’ but are led by the mahouts. Whilst each of the elephants did have a mahout, the elephants were as wild as they could be. Sadly, these elephants will never be the ‘wild’ elephants we all imagine in the jungle as they were brought up in the logging / tourist industry.
In the past we did visit an elephant park that did allow the touching, feeding and bathing of elephants, and whilst we loved our experience then, we now know that this wasn’t necessarily the right way to observe the elephants (we all learn from our mistakes). What we didn’t realise back then was that these elephants are paraded down to be fed, bathed and touched multiple times a day.
Surely, this is the best way to see elephants!
Our second time with the elephants at Chang Chill felt completely different. The elephants were free to wander around wherever they wanted, feed on food from the jungle and weren’t tied to some rigorous daily routine. It was an incredible day and one we won’t forget in a while. Whilst we were worried at the start of the tour by the number of minivans, Chang Chill did a great job of splitting up the groups and making sure there was never more than a handful of us in view of any elephant at any time.
If you are in Chiang Mai a day seeing the elephants of Thailand is an absolute ‘must’. We just ask you to please do your research and whatever you do, do not ride an elephant - this goes without saying for any elephant not just the elephants in Thailand!
Thanks for reading,
John & Ellie x
#adventuresofjellie
Elephant photo gallery from our time at Chang Chill
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