Before visiting Chang Mai, I did a lot of research on which the ethical and decent elephant sanctuaries were. My main concern was not paying to visit an elephant park which was mistreating elephants behind the scenes and therefore funding their misery.
There are the main contenders such as ‘Elephant Nature Park’ and ‘Boon Lott’s’, which seem to be pretty safe bets with regard to how they treat the animals, however we opted for the family-run ‘Elephant Legend’. There are four elephants here, all belonging to the same family, most of which were ex-logging elephants. The family don’t want to surrender their elephants so now invite tourists to visit them as a means of funding their keep.
Aside from the aggressive shouting at the elephants by the Mahoots (apparently they don’t listen otherwise!) I was pleased at the treatment I saw at this park. We had a great day and that was my main concern dealt with. I should have been happy, right?
What I wasn’t prepared for was the overwhelming sense of guilt and shame that I experienced by simply being there. I saw no mistreatment, I didn’t suspect any wrong-doing but I was stupid to think that that should be the extent of it. What I didn’t appreciate was that these animals, being paraded around for us to see, feed, mud bath and wash was another form of mistreatment. Although now living a much better life, these animals are still not completely free from being forced to perform when they don’t want to.
The saddest part of the day was watching our elephant, Orea, after delaying getting in to the stream for a long time, screwing up her eyes as she stepped in to the cold water. She obviously didn’t want to get in there and that’s when it struck me, that we shouldn’t be doing this at all. We should only be observing; these beautiful animals should be left in peace.
With tourists paying towards seeing elephants I can’t ever see this situation improving in Thailand. Obviously, I am guilty of this but wouldn’t have booked if I had been sensible enough to have this realisation beforehand. What really hammered this point home to me was the baby elephant at Legend. This baby was being trained (humanely trained but trained nevertheless) for tourist contact which just shows that while the families are making money these elephants will never in the best possible situation.
My advice would be to try and find an elephant park which only allows you to observe the animals or perhaps volunteer with the animals. No contact is necessary! They do not require constant mud baths and washing for the sake of tourists. If not, ask yourself whether you can live with the guilt of paying towards that elephant, and in turn many elephants to come, being in captivity. I’m being hypocritical here but it’s something I really wish I hadn’t done.
If you still want to go… at least you aren’t riding them! (Please, please don’t ride them.)
I know I am preaching to the choir here, and that it will take a much bigger change than a few of us boycotting the centres for something worthwhile to happen. However, just remember; our more westernised thinking on these matters would still judge these elephant ‘sancturies’ as exploitation.
In Thailand right now, this is the best you can hope for.
 
