Thailand Travel Pages - Royal Elephant Conservatory

Asia Products LLC Thailand Travel Pages Header

Royal Elephant Conservatory:

Royal Elephant Conservatory is roughly an hour’s drive south of Chiangmai along the main northern highway. Thailand is one of the few countries in the world that still uses elephants, mainly to harvest lumber in the northern reaches of the country. Sadly, most of the injuries come from landmines still present on the border with Myanmar (Burma).

This (500-hectare) sanctuary is the only elephant hospital in the world today, under Royal Patronage. This conservatory is where sick and injured elephants can be treated and cared for, as well as captured wild and discarded out-of-work domesticated elephants can be looked after. There are daily elephant shows showing how elephants live the wild and how they are used as work animals in the deep Thai forest. The Conservatory also even offers a program for visitors to live with and learn about elephants, lovingly called the "mahout training program". There is also small cottage factory that makes "elephant" paper from their dung on the premises.