Half-day Elephant Experience At Rantong

Incredible experience with gentle giants. Learned much about elephants and how they’re rescued. Fed them and got lots of hugs. Included showers and lunch!

A wonderful time! Very professional and helpful. From hotel pickup to explaining about the elephants and the delicious lunch.

Absolutely gorgeous experience. The animals are highly respected and well cared for. The staff and handlers are so highly educated, capable and loving. Our tour leader Seven was so laid back and educational. He knew absolutely every answer to any question my kids could think of about elephants. A once in a lifetime experience.

The best experience we had in Chiang Mai. The humane nature of this sanctuary was evidsnt from the first minutes. Our guide, Bowwy, was so knowledgeable and attentive. The lunch was 5 stars. The only downside was whoever provided the transportation. Miserable experience coming and going. Broken air conditioner and a driver who is unsafe.

The sanctuary is about 1.5 hours from Chiang Mai. We were given special clothes so not to destroy our clothes as conditions were quite muddy. You get to prep food and feed the elephants close up. We saw elephants of different sizes and ages. Then as an option you get to wash the elephants at the end. Food was then provided, a simple but good egg pad Thai and some fruits and mango sticky rice. Overall a fun experience and the elephants look like they were happy and sociable.

I enjoyed the experience. If you like to get close to elephants this is the best way. If you want to jump with elephants in the water, no worries you receive clothes and boots. Shower is available as well.

This was a beautiful experience! Elephants seemed all very well taken care of. We were given a change of clothes & rubber boots to walk around. Our guide explained about the elephants & their lives there. The elephant’s caretakers seemed very attuned to them. Theelephants dictate the terms, as it should! We fed them, which was amazing & a bit scary when u see such a huge creature coming towards you. This will be highlight of our trip!

Bucket list item that exceeded expectations. The elephants roamed free. We got multiple opportunities to feed them and go in the water with them. Amazing experience and our guide Siri was incredible! She was so funny and kind!

Today we had the absolute joy of visiting Rantong elephant sanctuary. We never thought we would get so close and involved with all the elephants and the playing with them in their watering hole was amazing! Our guide Siri ( yes just like the iPhone but this is a real person!), thank you for your informative guidance, your sharing of your passion for these magnificent animals, secondly to the team at the sanctuary, it is obvious that your caring approach with the elephants comes straight from your heart, when we learned that the elephants choose their carers that made our hearts swell ❤️, to the kitchen staff, thank you for a delicious lunch 😊 and finally to the founders thank you for your commitment and energy to keep the sanctuary going. We thoroughly recommend a visit to the sanctuary, you will come away full of humility and happiness and knowing that your support is helping humanity.

We did the half day experience. Couldn’t fault the service. The whole experience was amazing and Siri our guide was so knowledgeable it made the whole time even more special. You can really tell she loves the elephants. Would definitely recommend this trip to friends and family and would return if ever in Thailand.

So...this was a good experience. We were able to get up close and personal with elephants (a little to close for me 😉). The tour guide Bowwoy was really nice, hands on and explained everything so well. The place provided an outfit and shoes to keep you clean. Showers are optional afterwards so be sure to bring your items needed for changing. The elephants all have their unique personalities....lunch was good...keeping the flies off was the issue. Great place, enjoyed iy even in the heat.

I really enjoyed this experience. We got to feed the elephants and give the elephants a bath. The elephants are all from working areas and were rescued when they got ill and injured and could not work. Our guide was called Siri and she gave us lots of information about the elephants.

Very good and cool experience! Had so much fun and had lots of laughs. Good food and environment. They take amazing care of the elephants and you can really see that they are loved. Thank you!

It was an amazing experience. Everyone was so nice and very welcoming. The tour was very fun, lots of activities and very engaging. Would recommend to anyone!

Excellent morning with the elephants in a lovely sanctuary. Our guide, Neekon, was so helpful and instructive. The elephants clearly love the sanctuary and have freedom to roam and be together. They appear very happy and well cared for.

10/10, would do it again. My partner and I fed elephants, putting food directly into their mouths. Once in a lifetime experience... well twice, this is my second time doing it. It was so great the first time, I did it again. You can tell the workers here really care for the elephants.

We came all the way to Chiang Mai for this tour. This was truly one of the most uniquely fun and interesting things I’ve ever done in my life. We were picked up from our hotel around 7ish the morning of. We made a couple of stops to pick up other tourist for the day. In total, the commute there felt a lot loner due to us being the first pickup, but significantly shorter being the first drop off. I was worried it was going to be agonizing, but fortunately we had some fun people with us, so the time flew. Based on previous reviews I’d agonized over the commute, but it truly wasn’t bad. Air conditioned vehicle, older, but functional, the driver and the guy with him didn’t say much, but it became obvious they were just the transport. Upon arriving at the reserve, you immediately see elephants over in their watering hole, eating under some shade and handlers all over the place. We promptly given welcome instructions but included; clothes to change into, the change of room/shower area, keys to lockers where you could keep your belongings and the option between boots or flip-flops to travel the property. I picked boots because the terrain was a little rocky, and I didn’t want to catch a toe on a stone or loose rock, but the guides mentioned f

This was a fantastic experience - one of the highlights of our entire trip to Thailand. The interaction with the elephants was beyond amazing, the guides were excellent in explaining everything and they genuinely care about these animals. Amazing day!

Wonderful to be so up close to these massive yet gentle animals. Great opportunity to feed and pet the elephants.

Absolutely great experience from start to finish. Interacting with the elephants in an ethical way with their welfare the main goal. Can’t recommend highly enough.

We booked through Elephant Sanctuary (since 2007) after reading on a blog that it was an ethical place to visit. However, we ended up arriving at Rang-Tong instead. We were picked up by a driver and co-driver along with 12 other people collected from various hotels. The driving was extremely reckless. There was no consideration for the passengers in the van, moped riders, or other drivers on the road. The driver was speeding and undertaking unnecessarily. I genuinely feared we would crash or seriously injure someone. Throughout the return journey, the driver was also repeatedly sniffing, which made the situation even more concerning. When we arrived, I did not feel any genuine love or care towards the elephants. The overall energy felt very off. Despite being told there wouldn’t be large numbers of visitors at once, there was a constant stream of people arriving. It felt overcrowded and not at all what had been described. The elephants were bathed in a pond — not a river as expected — and there was constant feeding by visitors throughout the day. The whole experience felt commercialised rather than ethical. Overall, it was a very sad and experience. I was very relieved to make it back in one piece.

We booked this elephant sanctuary experience because it was advertised as an ethical, observation-focused program. The description promised that we would mainly observe the elephants walking freely in the jungle, help bathe them in a river, prepare their food and vitamin balls, and feed them in a natural and respectful way. Unfortunately, the experience was nothing like what was advertised. First, the shuttle was over an hour late. On top of that, we were made to wait even longer for other guests who were late for pickup. The day already started off unprofessionally and disorganized. Instead of taking us to the sanctuary we had booked, we were taken to Ran Tong. From the moment we arrived, it was clear this was not what had been promised. There was no river, no jungle walk, and no opportunity to prepare food or vitamin balls for the elephants. The grounds were poorly maintained and did not look like a well-kept sanctuary. The only thing visitors were allowed to feed the elephants was corn. Rather than being an observation-based ethical experience, it involved a lot of petting and directing the elephants to move where trainers wanted them to. It did not feel natural or ethical at all, and it did not match the sanctuary-style experience that was advertised. We chose this experience specifically because we wanted to support ethical elephant tourism. Instead, we left feeling misled and disappointed. I would strongly recommend future visitors double-check exactly where they are being taken and carefully research the company before booking.

We booked through the website elephant-sanctuary.org convinced that it was a save & rescue center. We were promised to have a lesson about elephants’ life an behavior, prepare food for them, walk with them in the forest, bath with them in the river and all this in full respect of the animals. The day of the experience we realized that elephant-sanctuary.org is just a tour company and they took as to Ran-Ton where there were 7 elephants surrounded by at least 100 tourists that continued touching them and taking picture. There is no walking in the forest, no food preparation, no lesson about the elephant and no river where the elephant can bath. In the place, which is a very small area, there is just a little pond. We personally decided not to participate in the experience since the animals did not look good or at ease. I have to mentioned that after insistent requests, we were fully refunded what we paid.

You book an experience at Elephant Sanctuary but they will take you to Ran Tong Elephant Center. Apart from the problem with the pickup service (over 1 hour waiting) you don’t get the experience you pay for: no small groups (between 25 to 30 people), no food preparation, no bathing with the animals, no walk in the forest, and, most importantly elephants are not treated ethically. We refused the experienced and asked them to take us back. Several others took same stand and they were therefore forced to arrange for a van to take all of us back to the hotel.

Added this day on to our tour to visit elephants. It was a great experience getting to feed them, prepare sugar cane for them, and help wash them off. I felt like they’re ethically maintained and managed there. When the elephants had enough of the water, they left. When they didn’t want to be touched and fed by tourists, they had free will to leave. We had a great day and were glad we went!

Would recommend! Bring bug spray

I have been travelling thoughtout SE Asia for more than 15 years, and have been on countless tours. Funny that I had the best and worst tours ever on consecutive days on this trip in Chiang Mai. Unfortunately, this tour was the worst. The pick-up was late and the food provided on the lower scale of what one can expect on these tours, but that wasn't a big deal. What was simply unacceptable and shocking was the person at the sanctuary who lead the group. She told us her name was Siri, and from the very first minute, she started to scream at us to hurry up, fill out the insurance forms, etc. She also insisted that there were 8 people in the van in which we arrived, but there were only 7. We were on the van, so we should now, right? But she didn't believe us and keep looking for the right person and was not interested in our feedback. After about 20 minutes of her acting like a drill sergeant, I had to finally tell her to stop screaming at us. She did, but then she basically checked out. I have never in my life experienced such a rude and unpleasant guide. And especially in Thailand, this is very unusual, as people tend to be incredibly friendly and helpful. So basically she ruined the experience for the entire tour group. Of course we talked about her afterward, and we all felt the same. She also didn't offer to take photos of us with the elephants, which is also very unusual. I will contact Viator and request a refund. The only good thing to say about this tour is that the elephants seemed to be taken care of very well. Skip this one and take the 4 in 1 Elephants, Long-neck Village, Rafting and Sticky waterfall tour instead, also offered on Viator in Chiang Mai. This was the best tour I have ever been on.

Rate 3. For this kind of money I would expect smaller people groups. We were like in 15 to 20 people. They have around 5 to 8 elephants that you feed with grass and fruits. In the whole are the groups of 20 people are changing stations and feed the same elephants. The elephants seems to like it, but taking the photo was sometimes to much disrespectful from my point of view. Our guide was kind of funny but spoke not good level of English and a lot of times we just could understand the meaning and connections between solar system and elephants and so on. So it was nice see the animals from near and feed them, but would be nice if they do it not so obviously digging the money from the whole thing.

Excellent tour and value. Highly recommend it. The elephants were well taken care of. The morning had great weather

Getting up close to elephants anywhere is amazing but this was a disappointing experience. The ride took 2 hours in a gross old bumpy crowded van with a maniac speeding driver. When we arrived there were other tour groups there, so each elephant is crowded around by at least 10 tourists so the other people are in the background of all your pictures and the experience feels very touristy. there is a lot of sitting around while other groups are with the elephants, and our tour guide spoke abysmal English so it was impossible to understand him which was a missed opportunity to learn about these amazing animals. On my last visit to Chiang Mai 10 years ago I did the elephant keeper for a day at Patara, it's 3x the price of this experience but it's worth it. you get your own elephant and a very special unique un-touristy experience and you're bathing the elephant in a river in a beautiful setting, not the dirty water with the parking lot in the background here. If you're price sensitive go with this one but lower your expectations.

We have really mixed feelings about this experience. We did have a nice time and good experience however there were times we felt a bit uncomfortable. Everything was included: transfers, clothes, lockers, boots, lunch etc. It was also really magical being up close with the elephants however we question how ethical this sanctuary really is. The description states the sanctuary meets ethical standards however we were able to wash, feed and touch the elephants. The elephants were being encouraged by the handlers to do what the tourists wanted. The guide was encouraging us to lean on the elephants and lift their tails and trunks for photos which we felt completely uncomfortable with. Some of the elephants were also locked away in pens as they were ‘aggressive’. The transfer was also over 30 mins late to pick us up and I didn’t receive any updates to inform me of this.

elephantsanctuary.org is a huge scam I wish I had looked up the reviews. The website promised such an ethical experience but instead you go to this place where there’s 100 or more tourists. The elephants aren’t chained down but they might as well be. Tour guides asking the elephants to perform in return for sugar cane and repeatedly asking you to touch the elephants even though these animals are not wired for constant human touch and phone cameras staring at them for multiple hours. They also lock up the “naughty” male and only keep him around so they can mate more elephants once the male is old enough. So sad to see this and wish I had looked up reviews here, it made me sick that I was scammed like this and once we were way out there dropped off, we were stuck. Really hoping I save others from paying for this unethical circus.

It was an amazing experience from the minute we drove into the sanctuary. This is something that we had never experienced before. I still can’t believe that I fed, walked around with and got into the water with the most amazing animals I have ever seen. “Slightly” out of my comfort zone (to say the least😂). I would highly recommend this experience and also, it helps to give these amazing creatures a better life. Yes, I’m using the word amazing a lot… it can’t be helped.

We did the half day tour as we just wanted to see the elephants. We had a fantastic time. Being able to be so close and feed the elephants was absolutely wonderful. Our guide was so knowledgeable and made sure we all had lots of photos taken. The dinner afterwards was very tasty. Overall I would highly recommend this tour.

The elephant sanctuary was a great experience. If felt very peaceful—not rushed. Our guide Terry was awesome! They provided clothes, boots, showers, towels, and a meal. We were able to feed the elephants and shower them, too.

We loved this trip. It is a fairly large facility, maybe 10-20 acres in size hosing about 20 elephants. Our group size was about 10-15 people. Our guide, Seven, was very engaging and informative. We each had time with multiple elephants to feed them and touch them. What gentle giants ... the was no tension or stress. Afterwards we had a good Pad Thai lunch. The trip was about 4-5 hours from our hotel pick-up to drop off. There were more groups that arrived after we got there, so I'd recommend to get the earlier tour times. By the time we left there were probably 100 people being rotated in to contact the elephants.

We enjoyed a half day which was spent with a number of female elephants. We were able to feed, process sugar cane, and feed same to the elephants. Our guide Seven? was very knowledgeable and provided information as to how the elephants came to be at the Reserve. The elephants are very food driven and as long as we were providing it, they were our ‘best’ friends! 😂 We were also invited to watch them bathe and invited to enter the water to splash water on them. We then returned for more sugar cane and a specially made food ball prepared for an elephant with digestive issues. He seemed happy to be fed both items. We finished with a tasty meal of Pad Thai and fruit. Overall, a good experience. It was obvious that these elephants are cared for.

Not convinced that this is an ethical experience. Felt a bit tourist conveyor belt. We had booked another experience but the driver turned up at the wrong time & we ended up on this one . This wasn't our decision it was forced upon us . Elephants at times seem to be bribed to do things to entertain tourists. Our guide told us some of the back stories of the Elephants but really don't know how genuine it all was . Do lots of research before you book ! Things aren't always what they are sold as.

We were on a half day tour (morning) and had several oportunities to feed the elephants. We also watched them bathing in a large pool. It was possible to paddle in the water next to them and throw water over them (although we chose not too!). They were very friendly and not forced to do anything they didn't want to do. Thoroughly recommended.

This was an absolutely amazing experience. We got to feed and bath the Elephant's. This is very well organized! You should definitely make this a must.

OMG this was a huge highlight of our 3 week trip. The staff at the Sanctuary were so caring in looking after the elephants and they all seemed really well looked after and happy. Nikon was our guide for the morning and he was a fund of knowledge . It was definitely value for money which included a lovely lunch. Groups were not too big so everyone got up close to the elephants, fed and bathed them - I absolutely would recommend this trip to anyone who loves elephants!

Thoroughly enjoyed this experience. The staff were brilliant and clearly cared about the animals. Plenty of hands on time with the elephants and lots of useful information from the staff.

It was a great experience, the elephants were very friendly and fun, the guides were informative of elephant behavior. Change of clothes provided as well as boots so no concerns regarding getting your clothes or shoes dirty or muddy. You can shower after if you want. It’s a little long ride to and from 45 minutes. Would highly recommend.

Incredible experience! To stand next to one of these massive animals is amazing. To learn about them is incredible. To feed them and bathe them is awe inspiring. The guides at Rantong Elephant Sanctuary are wonderful. They and the elephant keepers are great both with the animals and the guests. The elephants are well cared for, and seem bonded to both the staff and the members of the herd. This is a popular venue northwest of Chiang Mai. It’s a 45-55 minute van ride. People are put in 10-12 person groups, and given Thai work clothes to put on. There is a lot of education given about these elephants: their history, their nutritional and emotional needs, and their life expectancy and care. I have a lot of large animal experience, but have never been around elephants. They can knock you over if you are standing next to them when they shift their weight! They are incredibly sweet and well cared for. You work up a bit of an appetite during the morning session. After we had showered and changed back into our clothes, we were treated to a lunch of fruit and some delicious Pad Thai. This excursion is a must! Very well done and you’ll feel bonded to the animals and people when you leave!!

Amazing experience! 5/5! Our guide seven was well informed and really noce, food delicious and everything was good! Thank you so much 🙏🙏

What a memorable experience! We learned a lot about elephants and were fully oriented on safety before feeding, bathing and posing for pictures up close (as close as you can get)! A must! Our guide Nid was our personal photographer too and she and our driver were very kind and accommodating to our needs. Transportation was top notch and they worked well as a team making stops at every place we wanted to see.

We have a good experience with my family . This is our first time seen elephant but the experience was amazing .

Where should I begin? We were told we gonna be picked up at 1pm, at least we got picked up at 2:30pm. And we wasn’t the last pick up. At least we were at 4pm at the “sanctuary”. Next negative point: they promise small groups of 10-12 persons…that’s a lie! The groups are 20-24 persons. The program started with a cloth change and some information about the elephants. Then we got some watermelon pieces for the elephants and we had the opportunity to feed them (everything is good) but then we also got offered to touch the elephants (ranger: “touchy touchy, just touch them”), a lot of fun tourists with no clue, but if you start to inform yourself, you will understand, that elephants don’t appreciate to be touched! The elephants getting surrounded by all the tourists and getting touched, a lot of stress for the poor elephants! And it’s getting more worse, when the elephants try to escape, the employees blocking the way for the elephants and forcing them to stay for touches and photos. The next activity: you chopping a watermelon for later and take two pieces of them and you go to a mother elephant and her child, them game like before for mother and her baby. Later the employees forcing the elephants to bow down in front of the tourists to get some watermelons (not really natural for elephants) More often while the day, the guiding employee animated to stand nearly next to the elephants to take photos and videos. (Words of the employee: “Photo Photo, video video”) If you open your eyes, you will get really fast, that this isn’t a sanctuary but rather a circus with trained elephants to amuse tourists. Please do not support this company! This elephants are only there to make money for the owners and not to help the them.

A really magical experience - directly feeding and bathing the elephants was really special, and the sanctuary is beautifully clean and organised. Lunch was delicious and our guide was super knowledgeable.