Happy Elephant Home

This was a beautiful and fun experience! The staff at Happy Elephant Home are so kind and knowledgeable! After an afternoon filled with feeding and bathing the 3 elephants, we enjoyed freshly prepared pad Thai which was incredible. Thank you for having us!

One of the most amazing experiences of my life. Lots of one on one with the elephant, great staff who seem to really care about the wellbeing of their animals. The animals look good and healthy and are not forced to do anything. After meeting the elephants and swimming with them in the river, we had an excellent meal. Would recommend for sure.

We did the overnight experience and it was amazing. The elephants are very well cared for and have lots of space to roam. It’s great to help feed them and go for lots of walks with them and bath them. Pupae was a great guide, looked after us really well, took lots of photos and was very informative. The food was also really nice and the accommodation was much better than we were expecting. I would definitely recommend this elephant sanctuary as it’s super ethical and the elephants are clearly very happy here.

This was a really beautiful experience and Apple was an awesome guide. Hearing the story of how the elephants have made their way to Happy Home is really beautiful, and spending time with the elephants is just as great. Surreal, really.

Highly recommend this wonderful place! If you are looking to visit and support an ethical sanctuary where the elephants are well taken care of and treated properly, this is an excellent choice. The name is very accurate - the three elephants we met seemed very happy and were clearly beloved by all who work there. We did the full day experience so we got to feed bananas to the elephants, walk with them to the river and bathe one of them (the other two chose to stay on the bank and they are not ever forced to do anything they don’t want to do - another huge green flag for me), make and feed nutrition balls to the three ladies, and then pamper them with a spa treatment in the mud bath. They also fed us a delicious lunch! We were picked up from our hotel at 8am and dropped off at 4pm - a perfect, incredible day spent with these beautiful elephants!

It was a truly amazing experience. The guide introduced us to all the elephants and explained how they were all old working elephant that they had taken into their care. We were able to feed the elephants and after a short walk we washed them in the river as they wandered around. They also showed us how to make a quick noodle dish for lunch which was great.

Its a very ethical sanctuary with friendly guides and cute elephants 🐘 so definitely worth a visit.

It was such a good experience! You could feel that the people really cared for the elephants, and treated them nicely! We got touch the elephants and feed them, and bathe them in both mud and water. A great experience I recommend to anyone!

An experience of a lifetime.
If you are looking for an ethical sanctuary, then this is the place to go.
There are three mature elephants (cows), 45 years and older, that were saved and being taken care off by the amazing staff at the premise.
The sanctuary offers various types of activities.
If you choose the full day experience, you will get to feed the elephants bananas, accompany them to their morning bath and help them wash behind the ears, treat them in a mud spa, prepare medicine balls and feed it to them, enjoy lunch with a local dish and the surrounding nature. I recommend this sanctuary to each who wants to spend the day around these magnificent, beautiful and gentle elephants.

If you're coming to Thailand, this is a place that you must see the people there are absolutely wonderful. They take excellent care of these elephants just as they were family members this is a must see if your coming. There is nothing I can say to describe what you feel when you come here, no words just Wow Oh and don't forget to say hello to "Apple" for me

We chose the overnight two day tour and loved every minute of it. Pupae was our guide throughout the experience, she was fun, friendly, informative, and really went out of her way to make sure we were getting the best experience. We loved the mini cooking lessons and all the food was delicious. The homestay accommodations were on the primitive side but surprisingly very comfortable. Of course, the whole elephant experience was just incredible. Splashing with the girls in the river, splattering them with mud in the mud hole, or just ambling along quietly through the jungle alongside these gentle giants was just magical.

Happy Elephant Rescue in Chiang Mai is a wonderful place. The people there really know and love elephants. They teach visitors lots about these amazing animals. Our guide Omo is an excellent guide and resource for everything elephants and Chiang Mai.

Purchased full day tour, includes lunch and attire.

You can join a tour and spend a whole day like an elephant caretaker. You can feed the elephants and walk with them. You can also help give them baths and make their meals. The elephants are not forced to do things for tourists that they won't normally do in a day.

The people at Happy Elephant Rescue really care for the elephants. They teach you a lot and let you help with their daily jobs. This is a great place to learn about elephants and have fun at the same time.

I did a lot of research to make sure I was going to an ethical elephant sanctuary and I’m so happy I came across this place! They currently have 4 elephants that they’ve rescued and now take care of and we were able to spend plenty of time with all of them. I did the half day tour and got to feed the elephants a banana snack, walk alongside them down to the river and give them a water bath. We ended the morning with a great lunch. I’d highly recommend this place if you want quality time with adorable elephants that are treated well!

We had such a wonderful time on the half day afternoon tour with Happy Elephant Home! Our guide, Adam, was kind, patient, and incredibly knowledgeable about these beautiful and intelligent creatures, hopefully you will meet him when you visit! There are currently three adult female elephants in the sanctuary. We were picked up at our hostel and drove an hour from Chiang Mai to the location. From there we changed into traditional Karen clothing and spent the next few hours with the elephants - walking, bathing, scratching, feeding etc. we then had an amazing dinner of Pad Thai and fresh seasonal fruit, absolutely delicious. the sanctuary is very humane and treats the elephants with respect. I would highly recommend this for a perfect afternoon excursion! It is definitely worth the money.

Where to start?! If you are like me you are probably spending hours looking for the best Elephant sanctuary- one that is an actual sanctuary- no “show”, no riding, and just a place that cares for these elephants and wants to provide a better life than what they previously had…and this is IT. ❤ You will not feel guilty being here, these people love and care so much about the elephants and the elephants look so happy and at peace with the people who work here! (no mistreatment at all). Apple our tour guide is the BEST. She is all smiles, and just radiates positivity and joy! She knows so much and loves these animals so much- she will tell you everything about the 3 elephants they have (These ladies are each about 45 yr olds and they each have sad back stories from where they were rescued). Its so heartwarming to see them happy, healthy, and free ! ACTIVITIES: We got picked up by van, we arrived within an hour, we then fed the elephants, walked them to the river, (normally wed get in the water with them but the current at the river was too strong because of the weather, we had a lunch break with delicious vegetarian food, we fed medicine to one of the elephants (Molo, who stole my heart🥰), gave them more food, gave them a mud bath, and then goodbyes!)I could write an essay about this place but to keep it short: 👉🏼this place deeply cares for elephants and the money you pay is used for their food and care. This is the most amazing experience I have ever had, and I recommend you support Happy Home Elephant- you will not regret it. Oh and thank you Apple for the photos!!!🤩🤩🤩 Thank you Happy Elephant Home for such a magical and wholesome experience. 💕💕💕

We had an amazing experience here! We got to learn about the history of the elephants and about how Happy Elephant Home started. You could tell that the elephants were well looked after and the sanctuary cared about the elephants welfare. Apple was excellent, full of knowledge and joy. We did a half day which was perfect for us, around 4 hours spent feeding, walking and bathing with the elephants. Finished with a delicious homemade veggie Pad Thai. Highly recommend this experience :)

Incredible half-day experience with the team here. There are five female elephants - each with their own quirky personalities (Mona Lisa is truly a diva 🤣). The day starts with banana feeding, walking the elephants down to the river for a fun shower and then walking them back and having lunch. Really wholesome, lovely trip.

If you're looking for an ethical elephant experience then you MUST come here, this place is amazing, we done the two days one night experience and I wish it was longer. The elephants are loved, cared for and respected. The love Apple and all the family have for these animals Is real and authentic, she spent 10 years working in the elephant nature park, so she really knows what she's talking about and what she's doing. Please support and visit this sanctuary, you will not regret it. This is not a faux 'sanctuary' this is the real deal. Thank you Apple and your entire family for an amazing experience, for all your hospitality, delicious food and the love you family spreads far and wide (and for the great coffee also 😁)

I visited Happy Elephant Sanctuary today. It was super nice! There are only 2 elephants in a sanctuary right now, due to the crisis that the 👑 brings in all services that depends on the tourists. The staff is very friendly and our guide, Apple, is caring about elephants so much.
I've read a lot of comments that say that it's like a "circle", because elephants must go for a walk with people, and take a bath in the river. But the elephants need to take a walk every day! Especially if they have an injured back, like one girl elephant that I met today. (she was rescued from a bad people that was putting a saddle on her, and she was riding people on her back for years, which literally broke her back bones 😭). If she would just stay in the same spot every day, her back health would get worse.
People, please, support elephants, they are such wise and beautiful creatures. If you are around Chiang Mai, please visit an elephant sanctuary, it would help these animals a lot, especially now.

Had one of the most wholesome experience at Happy Elephant Home! If you’re looking for an ethical elephant sanctuary, this is definitely the place. Area are clean and well maintained, staff are knowledgeable and professional, and all elephants are so happy and well taken care of ❤ 10/10 recommended!!! Note: make an advance booking at their website! Tour includes pick up at your hotel in Chiang Mai, lunch, food for the elephants, and shower area.

Amazing experience to spend time with these elephants. Real ethical behaviour of the owners who rescue hurt animals