Santuário de Elefantes em Chiang Mai pelo Projeto Sonho de Elefante

My first trip to Chiang Mai on May 8, 2026, left me with unforgettable memories. From JJ's initial introduction and explanation, I could feel the park's dedication to this project, prioritizing the elephants' lives and care over commercial performances. The itinerary included a fruit feeding experience, but more time was spent quietly observing the elephants living freely, walking, playing in the water, and interacting. There were no forced performances or rides; instead, we accompanied and got to know them in the most natural way. I also want to tell everyone that if you come to Chiang Mai, it's truly worth arranging such an experience. Even though the journey is longer, I hope everyone can understand that it's precisely because they are far from the city that they have more spacious land to roam freely. Watching them live so freely, it felt as if I could sense the elephants' genuine happiness and the feeling of being well-treated.

I love the attitude of this park. When I first looked for a tour, I decided I only wanted to walk with elephants and didn't want to overly disturb these gentle giants. After all, it's impossible to get familiar with these elephants in just half a day or a day, and I didn't want to get myself dirty. My ideal setup was pure photography plus walking, and then just getting close to them. But it was still very enjoyable, holding watermelon and sugarcane in both hands, and some grass for them to snack on. Elephants are so huge, and each one has a different personality. There's still a bit of danger, so you must listen to the staff's instructions. This park is an elephant family, and we saw three of them. One of them, Yaya, was more mischievous. The other two elder elephants were more stable. Elephants are surprisingly a bit afraid of cats and dogs, or perhaps they just don't like them, I'm not entirely sure.

We had the best day visiting the elephant dream project. The guide and owner of the elephants was fantastic. It truly is a real ethical sanctuary as the elephants are treated like family members and are well cared for. Lunch was great and the long van ride was well worth it in the comfy van! Highly recommend!

★★★★★ Truly Ethical & Heartwarming Experience The Elephant Dream Project in Chiang Mai was an incredible experience. The service was excellent, the van was comfortable, and there was a short snack break on the way. This is a genuinely ethical sanctuary – the elephants live with local families and are all rescued. There is no riding or bathing, just respectful feeding and time spent observing them peacefully. We even met a 60-year-old grandmother elephant who has slowly regained trust in people. You help prepare their food, enjoy a delicious lunch, and visit beautiful waterfalls afterwards. The guide was funny and passionate, and your visit truly supports a real sanctuary working to rescue more elephants. Highly recommended.

The elephant tour is absolutely worth it. The elephants are clearly well cared for, and you can see the respect and love the locals have for them. If you want to directly support the families who own and care for these elephants, booking your tour here truly makes a difference. Your money goes straight toward helping this community and sustaining this meaningful project.

Se nota que las personas que dirigen el santuario realmente se preocupan por los elefantes a su cargo. Durante el viaje, el cuidador te muestra cómo interactuar y alimentarlos. Además, es importante tener en cuenta que algunos días los elefantes no quieren hacer ciertas cosas y los cuidadores no los obligan a hacerlas para el entretenimiento de los turistas. También, si reservas el tour completo, puedes preparar suplementos para los elefantes y ver una hermosa cascada (solo ten cuidado al caminar cerca de la cascada, ya que puede ser bastante resbaladiza). Si alguna vez estás en Chiang Mai, recomiendo encarecidamente hacer este tour, ya que es divertido y educativo.

Super beautiful experience, the guide is super friendly, the elephants are beautiful, walking with them in the mountains, feeding them was a beautiful and highly recommended experience. Be careful, the road has too many curves, bring Dramamine.

super enjoyed our experience with the elephants, they are very gentle and likes to play with people. I love that the elephants here are given free will to do whatever they want and are not forced to entertain people, elephant dream project takes care of these gentle giants in a very ethical way and always reminds tourists that we should never force them and just let them do what they want. just simply take care of them.

💯 ethical elephant sanctuary! When visiting Chiang Mai, itineraries almost always include a day trip to an elephant sanctuary. As tourists/humans, it is absolutely our obligation to do our research in finding ethical elephant sanctuaries that don’t force the elephants to interact with visitors in exchange for profit. Elephant Dream Project fits the bill—visibly happy and healthy elephants, no forced interactions such as bathing or riding, owned and maintained by local Karen Tribe villagers, and visitors follow the elephants (versus other “sanctuaries” where elephants follow the visitors or Mahouts/guides). Compared to other sanctuaries, Elephant Dream Project is more lowkey and less commercial, which gave me a good impression because it appears that profit goes to elephant food and welfare. Please, support Elephant Dream Project to continue giving their elephants happy and safe lives! 🐘

The most amazing part of my stay here in Thailand. I was able to see elephants doing there own thing. They weren't forced to entertain us like many places in Thailand. I would go back to see these amazing creatures.