Haanism

As we know, Thai people admire and respect elephant, which has played an important role in the Thai history. Elephant is called "Chang" in Thai language.


Chang Beer is a favorite among locals as well as foreigners. Even the Chang Beer’s advertising song declares “With Pride We Drink Chang, the Thai Beer”. It is specially brewed to suit the tastes of Thai consumers and to be the perfect complement to Thai food.

A fellow blogger, Chee Hoe, highlighted to me that elephant riding should not be missed. Prior to departure, I looked for some information about that via the Internet. When seeing some CS members mentioned the following, I was hesitated if I should really go and ride on an elephant.

"I was thinking about taking a ride and having a cool picture taken... that is until I saw the elephants. Have you ever seen a happy elephant? they really look as if they are smiling. These elephants were not smiling... almost crying.. Later I saw a couple of the elephants with about 8 drunk dudes on top posing for a picture that the guide was taking... that will be the image I always remember when I think of elephant rides."

How does one judge if this elephant is happy?

"In my 2 years in Chiang Mai, the ONLY elephant center I can recommend is Elephant Nature Park, run by Kuhn Lek. Part of the reason I can recommend it is that they DO NOT GIVE ELEPHANT RIDES. They will - if you are interested - go into great detail on how elephant rides with seats are inevitably damaging to the spines of elephants.

The park treats elephants like elephants, works hard to protect them and does work for elephant rights that has resulted in a death contract being put out on Kuhn Lek by the other Elephant parks and gotten Kuhn Lek recognized as Time Magazine's Woman of the Year SouthEast Asia in 2005.

You can go there and feed the elephants, wash them in the river, get to know them and learn a LOT about them - but NOT ride them."

Therefore, I checked out the sites of Elephant Nature Park and Thai Elephant Conservation Center, regarding what they offer and also the charges incurred. However, the findings are as follows:

• A full-day to learn about the wonderful creatures costs 2,500 Baht
  
• A one-day mahout training course costs 3,500 Baht

Honestly, these are totally out of my budget, and more importantly, I'm not someone that likes to get along too much with animals. So, I have to forget about these places.


On my second day in Chiang Mai, I joined the people I met at the airport (Patrick, Nigel, Love) to go for a safari. The Thai lady, Love, who's Nigel's uni mate at Curtin University of Technology, Perth, drove us to Maetang Elephant Park. The place is located about 80km out of the city.

When we departed from the city, I actually didn't know which elephant park we were heading. Just follow the majority and see what happens then, I think.


Then we arrived at the Maetang Elephant Park. A lady at the ticket selling counter sold us a tour which includes:

• Buffet Lunch
  
• Elephant Riding
  
• Visit to Lisu Village
  
• Ox Carting
  
• Elephant Show
  
• Bamboo Rafting

Since we have taken our brunch, we omitted the lunch, and were charged 1250 Baht per person. That was kinda expensive, according to my research done before. However, as I told myself, just follow the majority because I was not only with myself. Also, I had to be a typical tourist that day.

Click here to read "Tourist or traveller: which one are you?"

However, later I found out that there are actually agents that offer better rates. For example:

1. One Day Safari (800B)

elephant riding, elephant show, ox-carting, bamboo rafting, visit to Lisu tribe, orchid farm, buffet lunch

2. One Day Safari + Long Neck Village (1050B)

all of (1) plus visit to Long Neck Village

It was already too late when I got to know about the cheaper tours. In addition, they pick you up from where you stay and then send you back!

If you are interested in any of the above two, you can contact:

Next - Elephant Riding