Kanta Elephant Sanctuary - Chiang Mai, Thailand

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Destinations > Asia > Thailand > Chiang Mai > Kanta Elephant Sanctuary

Visiting elephant sanctuaries is very debatable on whether it is a good thing to do or not. We originally thought that we would want to ride an elephant when visiting Thailand. But after learning about how elephant spines are not made for carrying weight, we changed our minds.

We looked for ethical elephant sanctuaries around Chiang Mai and referenced a few articles, including this one: Some of The Best Ethical Elephant Sanctuaries in Chiang Mai. However, after having been here, we did some more research and this does not mean that this location was “perfectly ethical” by all standards.

There are ethical considerations about how the elephants are trained, bred, and taken care of. Sanctuaries have popped up to take care of “retired” elephants that used to provide rides or were used in the logging industry. Some are legit, some still offer ride experiences to those who want it.

It is a complicated matter with many layers and considerations. Please read this article about why boycotting elephant tourism completely may not be the best solution at this time.

So I’m not saying everyone should visit an elephant sanctuary, but I do think people should do their homework and realize what goes into elephant tourism.

That being said, we did visit and elephant sanctuary in Thailand – and we had a great time. Would we do it again? Possibly. Please read on if you’d like to learn about our experience at the Kanta Elephant Sanctuary and what it was like bringing a baby. Our baby was just shy of being 10 weeks old when we visited.

We booked a half-day afternoon experience and received our confirmation email instructing us to bring the following:

• Sandals or comfortable shoes that can get wet

• Hat and sunglasses

• Sunscreen and insect repellent

• Swimsuit (worn underneath your clothing) and towel

• Change of clothes

• Camera (Optional)

For our baby, we also brought a baby carrier, muslin cloths, and a sun umbrella. He was breastfeeding so we didn’t have to worry about bringing bottles or formula.

We were picked up from our accommodations in Chiang Mai. They do a few pickups around the city and then head off to the sanctuary. It took around an hour. NOTE: If you do bring a baby or child under 1 years old, there is no charge but there is also no seat in the shuttle for them. So they sit on your lap.

The half day tour included:

• A short lesson about elephants and why they are so important to Thai culture

• Feeding them sugarcane for fiber and grass leaves for food

• Petting and taking photos with them

• Preparing medicine rice balls with tropical fruit and feeding them to the elephants

• Bathing and brushing the elephants in a water hole

A few more activities are included with a full day tour, like walking with elephants in their natural habitat, gathering sugarcane, swimming with them in the river, and giving them a mud bath.

Once we arrived at the sanctuary there were lockers which you could use for your bags and change of clothes. You’re also given shorts and shirt to wear over your swimsuit.

Before meeting the elephants, you’re instructed on how to feed the elephants the sugarcane, and how to walk and react. They advise against making any loud high pitched noises like screaming or giggling as it could startle/scare the elephants. If you are bringing any children, you may want to prep them ahead of time.

Each person is handed a shoulder bag filled with sugarcane to feed the elephants. The elephants can smell the sugarcane in the bags and will approach you when you get near them.

There isn’t any shade while feeding the elephants sugarcane and grass, so definitely remember your hat and sunscreen. I kept our baby off to the side while our group fed the elephants sugarcane, because he was sleeping. But once he woke up, he was able to meet the elephants.

After the elephants ate their fill of sugarcane and grass, we walked over to a small shelter. Our guide spoke to us about the elephants in Thailand and how they are cared for at the sanctuary. Then we were split into smaller groups to make medicine balls made of bananas, rice, tamarind, vitamins, and a few other ingredients.

Making the medicine balls is very sticky. The banana and tamarind stick to your hands. Fortunately you can jump in the water with the elephants afterwards and wash off your hands. You can also wipe your hands on the shorts and shirt they provide you to meet the elephants.

Not everyone participated in bathing and washing the elephants. Some people wore socks and shoes and didn’t want to take them off. I didn’t get in the water because our baby decided it was his nap time.

After the elephants’ bath, it’s time to to go back to the lockers. There are showers and toilets available there as well. Once everyone is cleaned up, a small snack of fruit and cookies are provided before heading back to Chiang Mai.

Overall, the experience was quite amazing. We weren’t sure how our little guy would react to seeing the elephants up close, but he just stared at them in awe. The elephants at Kanta Elephant Sanctuary seemed happy and content from what we could see.

Take time to consider the ethics and reasons why you would want to visit an elephant sanctuary. Also realize that it currently is still such a huge part of Thailand’s tourist industry. We looked up information about going to a sanctuary that didn’t provide elephant rides.

But then we went on a railroad and floating market tour which ended up bringing us to an unannounced part of the tour: an elephant ride and tiger experience place as a “bonus.” Nowhere in the marketing for the floating market tour did it mention anything about elephant rides, but we still ended up there – because other tours that company offered included it. We no longer recommend using that company for tours.

NOTE: This is NOT something that we did, it was an unannounced stop on a DIFFERENT tour we took to the floating markets near Bangkok.

So if you visit Thailand and go on a tour, we’d advise doing your homework on the tour company you book with. Even if you book a floating market or food tour, you may be supporting a company that does offer riding on elephants inadvertently.

Cost of the Kanta Elephant Experience

Kanta Elephant Sanctuary experience costs 1500 Baht per person (approximately USD$47) or 2500 Baht for a full day ($78).
Our baby was free, but the child price (ages 1-9) is 1200 baht ($38) and 2000 baht ($63).

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