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Elephant Sanctuary: Rescue and Learn in Chiang Mai
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.
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
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…
- 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 these incredible creatures.
- Make vitamins for the elephants including pregnant, injured, and old elephants.
- Meet the elephants, walk with them, take a bath for them and observe them in their natural habitat.
- Say goodbye to the elephants and change your clothes.
- Lunch/Dinner - Thai food, seasonal fruits, and drinking water.
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Leave Ran-Tong Save & Rescue Elephant Centre and go back to your hotel/accommodation in Chiang Mai city.
**You should bring spare clothes, comfortable shoes, sandals that you do not mind getting wet and dirty, shampoo and soap, a camera, mosquito spray or insect repellent.
What's Included
- Air-conditioned transportation
- Included lunch
- Traditional Karen clothing provided
- Travel insurance
- 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…
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 their long history within Thai culture. Founded in 2009, Ran-Tong has rescued over 40 elephants to date with the help of public generosity, support, and private donation they can continue their ongoing vital work. Our priority is animal welfare. At Ran-Tong Save & Rescue Elephant Centre, you will completely get to learn a lot about elephants and have a memorable experience with them.
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.8
(598 Ratings)
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Kelvinchavezpr
Nov 14, 2025
An amazing experience! - This was an amazing experience! The elephants looked genuinely happy and well cared for. The staff was incredibly friendly. The sanctuary provides everything you need to change (including hats), and you can shower afterward and enjoy a delicious, homemade meal.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Lisa_n
Nov 14, 2025
Great tour - Great morning tour. All clothes/boots provided. Feeding and spending time with the elephants was beautiful. They seemed happy to be around humans.
Our guide was very knowledgeable and gave us great instruction.
Lunch was very good and plentiful.
Review provided by Viator
Deanneg117
Nov 11, 2025
Highly Recommend! - This trip was amazing! Guide was very knowledgeable and easy to understand. Wonderful experience with the elephants!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Nicholas_b
Nov 11, 2025
If you're going to do an... - If you're going to do an elephant experience, this one is highly recommended. From start to finish, we were able to get close de to these wonderful animals but at all times felt that they were under no duress to 'perform'.
We were given lots of information and our guide, Nikon, was very friendly and informative.
I know that this isn't the type of trip for everyone, but we felt that the elephants were cared for and set their own pace - if they walked away from you, they were not forced to come back. All in all, we had a great morning.
Review provided by Viator
Tomara_c
Nov 10, 2025
Great experience - The elephants are so well cared for and loved here. Was a blessing for us all to see. I highly recommend!
Review provided by Viator
Sawt_13
Nov 10, 2025
Don’t think. Just book - Excellent from start to finish. It’s quite something to just walk alongside the elephants in their natural habitat. Big thanks to our guide ‘7/11’. Very informative. The food was also fab. We did this tour 2 years ago and had to do it again on our return to chiang mai. Hard recommend.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Paul
Nov 10, 2025
A wonderful mission, program and location! - We had a great time at the half day elephant experience at Ran-Tong. These elephants have been rescued and the mission is one of compassion. As we departed the vans that dropped us off, we were greeted by our guide and three elephants, including one 4 year old. We were escorted to a changing area where we were given clothes to wear while visiting with the elephants. The remainder of the time was spent feeding, petting and washing the elephants. What a great experience getting up close and interacting with them! We had the opportunity to take many pictures and ask any and all questions. Our guide “seven” was very knowledgeable, friendly and humorous. In between meeting with the various groups of elephants we took water breaks, and after showering and changing back into our street clothes, we had a great lunch of pad Thai and fruit. If you are visiting Chiang Mai, you should take the time to visit Rantong Elephant Sanctuary.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Daniel
Nov 10, 2025
Great tour to get in touch with elephants - The tour was well organized, you were picked up by an air-conditioned minibus from the hotel in Chiang Mai, the journey took around 1.5 hours.
On arrival you had to change so that your own clothes and shoes would not get dirty. You got some kind of T-shirt, pants, hat and rubber boots.
At the end of the tour, a shower towel and soap were provided.
The tour itself was successful, so the tour guide could come up with information on the history of elephants and their way of life. You could feed the animals, take pictures with them and wash them.
I had the impression that the elephants here are doing well and being treated correctly; no bespoke for tourists.
The food (pad thai) was also fine. In addition, it should be mentioned that you could help yourself to water bottles during the whole time.
The tour can be recommended!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Abby
Nov 8, 2025
Elephant experience was great, transportation not so much... - The rating is only for the elephant experience portion. The Ran-Tong center was great and interacting with the elephants was wonderful. However the transportation company they hired to get us to the rescue center was terrible. We were picked up at our hotel at 1:30, the center is only 1 hour away from the city. There were four other groups we needed to pick up. Our driver circled the city lost for the next 2.5 hours looking for the other hotels. We finally reached the center at 5pm so I think our visit was shortened due to this and it started getting dark while we were interacting with the elephants. However while we were in the vehicle our group contacted the tour operator to express our concerns about our visit being cut short and what was happening and they provided all of us with full refunds while we were still on the tour. Appreciative of their customer service.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Nadine_l
Nov 10, 2025
Fun elephants horrible drive - The guide and elephant experience 💯 but the transportationhorrible. The van crowded my husband 6 feet 2 head banging o ceiling and he has to stay curbed over an hour trip. We had to wait almostan hour and a half to be picked up back to hotel every other vans had gone explanation traffic… how about the others. Too bad as the part with elephant excellent
Review provided by Viator
