Elephant Sanctuary: Rescue and Learn in Chiang Mai

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Experience a memorable half day at the Ran-Tong Sanctuary in Chiang Mai, where abused elephants are rescued and cared for with passion. Learn about elephant welfare and Thai culture.

Duration: 5 hours

Cancellation: 24 hours

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Highlights

Ran-Tong Save & Rescue Elephant Centre - ITINERARY
Pick you up from your hotel/accommodation in Chiang Mai city.
Drives approximately 1 hour to Ran-Tong Save & Rescue Elephant Centre in Mae Taeng District.
On arrival, you will change to Mahout Style Karen clothes and start your elephant school where you will learn all about the centre and…

What's Included

Air-conditioned transportation
Included lunch
Traditional Karen clothing provided
Travel insurance

Additional Information

Ran-Tong is devoted to rescuing abused elephants from all over Thailand and surrounding countries. Every elephant rescued is brought to the sanctuary in Chiang Mai and cared for with great passion and enthusiasm. Our mission is not only geared towards the protection and prevention of abused Elephants in Thailand but also to educate the public about…

Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings

4.8

(640 Ratings)

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Cortney_b

Mar 20, 2026

Awesome! Once in a lifetime experience - We came all the way to Chiang Mai for this tour. This was truly one of the most uniquely fun and interesting things I’ve ever done in my life. We were picked up from our hotel around 7ish the morning of. We made a couple of stops to pick up other tourist for the day. In total, the commute there felt a lot loner due to us being the first pickup, but significantly shorter being the first drop off. I was worried it was going to be agonizing, but fortunately we had some fun people with us, so the time flew. Based on previous reviews I’d agonized over the commute, but it truly wasn’t bad. Air conditioned vehicle, older, but functional, the driver and the guy with him didn’t say much, but it became obvious they were just the transport. Upon arriving at the reserve, you immediately see elephants over in their watering hole, eating under some shade and handlers all over the place. We promptly given welcome instructions but included; clothes to change into, the change of room/shower area, keys to lockers where you could keep your belongings and the option between boots or flip-flops to travel the property. I picked boots because the terrain was a little rocky, and I didn’t want to catch a toe on a stone or loose rock, but the guides mentioned f

Review provided by Viator

Lori_s

Mar 13, 2026

This was a fantastic... - This was a fantastic experience - one of the highlights of our entire trip to Thailand. The interaction with the elephants was beyond amazing, the guides were excellent in explaining everything and they genuinely care about these animals. Amazing day!

Review provided by Viator

Jerseycl

Mar 5, 2026

Great Experience - Absolutely great experience from start to finish. Interacting with the elephants in an ethical way with their welfare the main goal. Can’t recommend highly enough.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Storkrn1

Feb 16, 2026

Great up close and personal experience w these amazing animals - Added this day on to our tour to visit elephants. It was a great experience getting to feed them, prepare sugar cane for them, and help wash them off. I felt like they’re ethically maintained and managed there. When the elephants had enough of the water, they left. When they didn’t want to be touched and fed by tourists, they had free will to leave. We had a great day and were glad we went!

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Grazina_s

Mar 7, 2026

Up close and personal with Elephants. - Wonderful to be so up close to these massive yet gentle animals. Great opportunity to feed and pet the elephants.

Review provided by Viator

195smartb

Feb 23, 2026

Horrendous - We booked through Elephant Sanctuary (since 2007) after reading on a blog that it was an ethical place to visit. However, we ended up arriving at Rang-Tong instead. We were picked up by a driver and co-driver along with 12 other people collected from various hotels. The driving was extremely reckless. There was no consideration for the passengers in the van, moped riders, or other drivers on the road. The driver was speeding and undertaking unnecessarily. I genuinely feared we would crash or seriously injure someone. Throughout the return journey, the driver was also repeatedly sniffing, which made the situation even more concerning. When we arrived, I did not feel any genuine love or care towards the elephants. The overall energy felt very off. Despite being told there wouldn’t be large numbers of visitors at once, there was a constant stream of people arriving. It felt overcrowded and not at all what had been described. The elephants were bathed in a pond — not a river as expected — and there was constant feeding by visitors throughout the day. The whole experience felt commercialised rather than ethical. Overall, it was a very sad and experience. I was very relieved to make it back in one piece.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Fearless02272440160

Feb 20, 2026

Misleading & Not Ethical – Very Disappointing Experience - We booked this elephant sanctuary experience because it was advertised as an ethical, observation-focused program. The description promised that we would mainly observe the elephants walking freely in the jungle, help bathe them in a river, prepare their food and vitamin balls, and feed them in a natural and respectful way. Unfortunately, the experience was nothing like what was advertised. First, the shuttle was over an hour late. On top of that, we were made to wait even longer for other guests who were late for pickup. The day already started off unprofessionally and disorganized. Instead of taking us to the sanctuary we had booked, we were taken to Ran Tong. From the moment we arrived, it was clear this was not what had been promised. There was no river, no jungle walk, and no opportunity to prepare food or vitamin balls for the elephants. The grounds were poorly maintained and did not look like a well-kept sanctuary. The only thing visitors were allowed to feed the elephants was corn. Rather than being an observation-based ethical experience, it involved a lot of petting and directing the elephants to move where trainers wanted them to. It did not feel natural or ethical at all, and it did not match the sanctuary-style experience that was advertised. We chose this experience specifically because we wanted to support ethical elephant tourism. Instead, we left feeling misled and disappointed. I would strongly recommend future visitors double-check exactly where they are being taken and carefully research the company before booking.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

818claudior

Feb 19, 2026

To be avoided - We booked through the website elephant-sanctuary.org convinced that it was a save & rescue center. We were promised to have a lesson about elephants’ life an behavior, prepare food for them, walk with them in the forest, bath with them in the river and all this in full respect of the animals. The day of the experience we realized that elephant-sanctuary.org is just a tour company and they took as to Ran-Ton where there were 7 elephants surrounded by at least 100 tourists that continued touching them and taking picture. There is no walking in the forest, no food preparation, no lesson about the elephant and no river where the elephant can bath. In the place, which is a very small area, there is just a little pond. We personally decided not to participate in the experience since the animals did not look good or at ease. I have to mentioned that after insistent requests, we were fully refunded what we paid.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Jonnyl50

Feb 17, 2026

IMPORTANT TO READ elephantsanctuary.org is not a reliable website - You book an experience at Elephant Sanctuary but they will take you to Ran Tong Elephant Center. Apart from the problem with the pickup service (over 1 hour waiting) you don’t get the experience you pay for: no small groups (between 25 to 30 people), no food preparation, no bathing with the animals, no walk in the forest, and, most importantly elephants are not treated ethically. We refused the experienced and asked them to take us back. Several others took same stand and they were therefore forced to arrange for a van to take all of us back to the hotel.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Cecilia

Feb 15, 2026

Lousy. - We decided to make this visit after reading that it was an ethical sanctuary. From the photos, it looked like a big place, where you could walk and see the elephants from afar and, if they wanted to come close, we could feed them and bathe with them. From the beginning the tour showed what would ultimately be a disaster. They came looking for us later than planned. The van they drove us to the shrine was crashed, dirty inside and out. We had been told that the group would be small and there were actually about 10 people, but before there were two more groups, so we had to wait for all the activities. The guide of the sanctuary could not even speak in English, he did not understand anything and had us for a long time (waiting for the other groups) talking nonsense and playing the joke. In turn, it got really crazy if someone stepped away (it's a small place) from where he was. The worst thing was that it wasn’t really that if the elephants wanted to we could approach them but that with the food the guides were manipulating the elephants to go one way or the other. The elephants, who said they were about 16, were only three!! The stream was very small too and the place was small. That afternoon I dropped my ray ban glasses and they never got back. It was a waste of time and I very much regret that the elephants cannot act freely there. I don't recommend it.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Check Availability

From $56

up to 10 guests

1 - Adult