Our Day At Patara Elephant Farm In Chiang Mai Thailand

Before we ever even arrived in Thailand, I was counting down to our day at Patara Elephant Farm. I will preface all of this by saying that I did extensive research when it came to doing an elephant excursion on our trip. As much of an animal lover as I am, there are countless experiences, particularly with elephants, in Thailand where the animals are not treated humanely and I didn’t want to be any part of that. In fact, shortly before we arrived in Chiang Mai, I considered backing out of our elephant experience altogether, because I didn’t want to see anything upsetting.

I will say that while our experience at the property in-person was excellent, I have since learned and read that any kind of elephant riding is inhumane. I naively believed prior to our trip that only the elephant riding with the wicker seats was bad, but now I understand that any kind of riding is unjust. So, while it appeared that the elephants were well cared for and we observed nothing but tender practices while we were there, they do allow you to ride on their backs. If I had it to do over again, I would not come here and it’s a travel experience I deeply regret, particularly since other people may have given this camp money after seeing my post.

To learn more about the inhumane treatment of elephants in Thailand, I recommend reading the National Geography exposé on wildlife tourism.