When we were up in Chiang Mai, we hired a guide to take us into the jungle. Part of the tour included a stop at “Elephant Adventures and Bamboo Rafting.” This camp, 40 km outside of the city runs both the Elephant rides and the rafting.

I would recommend you stear clear of both and if you go to Chiang Mai, there’s a pretty good chance a guide will try to take you here.

Ben and I arrived, eager to start our trek and the spot looked touristy which I didn’t like right away…but you could sit up in a tree house and feed these beautiful elephants, huge bunches of bananas, which was fun. That kept me interested long enough for them to get us on the elephant and that’s when I started regretting that we had ever come to this place.

Each elephant is fitted with a metal seat that fits two people. The “driver” sits in front of you on the animal’s neck. Elephants are extremely powerful animals and I had no qualms about making him take our weight, but as we started up the path, into the forest, I began to feel horrible about the situation these elephants are in.

The driver has a stick with a meat hook on the end of it and when the elephant pauses on its way up the path, the driver first knocks it on the head with the stick, and if he doesn’t start moving, he gives it a poke with the meat hook. To make matters more unpleasant, the drivers friends walk behind the elephant and shoot rocks at it’s backside with a sling shot top “inspire” him forward.

Now as bad as this sounds, I have seen elephants run through and uproot trees and stuff full bushes of thorny Acacia in their mouths. Their skin is like Kevlar. But the worst had yet to come.

It’s rainy season here in Thailand and as we made our way up into the jungle on the little route they’ve made for the “elephant adventure,” the path became a series of hundreds of elephant footprints—mini mud wells—some with three feet of water in them.

After five minute of slogging his way through the deep mud, which made a suction noise with every step, the elephant was completely exhausted. The drivers continued badgering it to move forward until we intervened and ordered them to give the poor guy a rest.

It continued like this for the 10 minute duration of the ride and by the time we got back to the tree house to dismount, Ben and I were both disgusted that we had been patrons of this sick business.

After telling our guides, Jip and Pi how we felt about the whole thing, Jip responded with an articulate explanation that these elephants were once used for logging and the conditions they endured in that environment far surpassed the plight they live today. He told us that the loggers would pump the poor elephants with amphetamines and steroids to make them more productive, which I definitely believe.

“When this logging was outlawed in Thailand, the animals have no where to go. They either come here or they roam free and usually end up being shot by a farmer after decimating his crops” I could see the scenario Jip had put fourth but I still was far from believing that this place was the best game in town for these amazing animals. The bottom line is that these guys don’t give a shit about the elephants. They are nothing more than means to make beer money.

As travelers, WE have the power to change things like this. I would urge anyone traveling to Chiang Mai to seek out a refuge for elephants where they are respected by the people who work at the park. After talking to other travelers the last couple of days, I heard about a couple places that act more as rehabilitation facilities for these animals, and less like a poorly maintained carnival ride.

The intimate contact and feeding you get with these gentle giants is well worth a visit, but just make sure you tell your guide or whoever, that you only will go to a place that goes out of their way to respect the health and well being of the elephants.

Please leave comments if you’ve had a good experience at a different elephant park in Chiang Mai and avoid the “Elephant adventure and bamboo rafting” at all costs.