Maesa Elephant Park, Chiang Mai

Has anyone been to this and done the mahout program? I'm particularly
interested in people's experiences with the overnight programs. We're
planning to do a 2 day / 1 night program in early July.

I became a little nervous when they asked by email for the deposit to go
into an account with a personal name, rather than a business name. I'm not
keen on doing an electronic transfer overseas anyway because of the cost and
would rather pay by credit card.

Any other elephant camps that people have enjoyed? I'd like a back up as
our 11 year old has her heart set on spending time with elephants while we
are in Thailand.

On Feb 27, 1:29*am, "Viviane" wrote:


Any other elephant camps that people have enjoyed? *I'd like a back up as
our 11 year old has her heart set on spending time with elephants while we
are in Thailand.


The Elephant Nature Park is very good.

http://www.elephantnaturepark.org/

I have been dealing with them for years, they are very reputable.
Please read about them on the web site. This is not a commercial park.
They are a sanctuary for distressed elephants.

Enjoy.

Geno

In article , Viviane
says...
Has anyone been to this and done the mahout program? I'm particularly
interested in people's experiences with the overnight programs. We're
planning to do a 2 day / 1 night program in early July.

I became a little nervous when they asked by email for the deposit to go
into an account with a personal name, rather than a business name. I'm not
keen on doing an electronic transfer overseas anyway because of the cost and
would rather pay by credit card.

Any other elephant camps that people have enjoyed? I'd like a back up as
our 11 year old has her heart set on spending time with elephants while we
are in Thailand.

I wouldn't do any advance booking, and book a tour once in Chiang Mai.
It's quite easy to find tours locally.
--

Alfred Molon
http://www.molon.de - Photos of Asia, Africa and Europe

"Viviane" a écrit dans le message de news:
...
Has anyone been to this and done the mahout program? I'm particularly
interested in people's experiences with the overnight programs. We're
planning to do a 2 day / 1 night program in early July.

I became a little nervous when they asked by email for the deposit to go
into an account with a personal name, rather than a business name. I'm
not keen on doing an electronic transfer overseas anyway because of the
cost and would rather pay by credit card.

Any other elephant camps that people have enjoyed? I'd like a back up as
our 11 year old has her heart set on spending time with elephants while we
are in Thailand.

I mentioned one near Chiang Rai in this blog...

http://tinyurl.com/6o6krw

But prepare yourself for the youtube clip - it's worth watching, but
distressing.

There are alternative ways of training elephants but these methods still
persist in Thailand.

So as geno.y suggests, the commercial camps should - imo - be avoided.

I've witnessed some dubious treatment of these animals myself, in a camp
near Chiang Mai where I live, as well as up in the aforementioned Chiang Rai
camp.

pg

"Viviane" wrote in message
Has anyone been to this and done the mahout program? I'm particularly
interested in people's experiences with the overnight programs. We're
planning to do a 2 day / 1 night program in early July.

I became a little nervous when they asked by email for the deposit to go
into an account with a personal name, rather than a business name. I'm
not keen on doing an electronic transfer overseas anyway because of the
cost and would rather pay by credit card.

Any other elephant camps that people have enjoyed? I'd like a back up as
our 11 year old has her heart set on spending time with elephants while we
are in Thailand.


**Steve 'Kombat' Kramer used to run an illegal jungle safari tour business
in Chiang Mai, but the business was shut down by the Authorities and Kombat
was arrested and deported from Thailand. Unfortunately he has stopped
posting on Usenet. Kombat was an expert not only on elephants, but on just
about anything and everything, and would have been the one to ask. )

"geno.y" wrote ..
"Viviane" wrote:
Any other elephant camps that people have enjoyed? I'd like a back up as
our 11 year old has her heart set on spending time with elephants while we
are in Thailand.

The Elephant Nature Park is very good.
http://www.elephantnaturepark.org/

I have been dealing with them for years, they are very reputable.
Please read about them on the web site. This is not a commercial park.
They are a sanctuary for distressed elephants.

Enjoy.
Geno

Roger that !
I'll quote here from a 2007 email I received, itself quoting the experiences
of the 20-something daughter of an English correspondent
`````````````````````````
q
the elephant sanctuary that she worked at was
http://www.elephantnaturepark.org/
I so agree with you about the appeal of elephants. I once saw an
elephant baby just three days old and have been hooked ever since. As
much by the care of mum as the baby itself. J* said that at the
park, there was a blind elephant who was led around by the trunk
everywhere, by an elephant friend. I often think that the phrase 'dumb
humans' would be a lot more apposite than 'dumb animals'. She, J*,
was also deeply upset by the concept of Puujam, hence her offer to
market the park here, to persuade tourists to abandon trekking and want
to see elephants as they should be, in their natural habitat. Maybe you
would be interested in what she said...

waking up in the heart of thailand's beautiful jungle and seeing an
elephant
walk past your bedroom window is unbelievable. a week of feeling like i've
been living on a different planet where elephants roam and get to be
elephants, emotional and highly intelligent creatures who are fast
becoming
extinct and need all the help they can get... this haven takes them away
from the hell of trekking and street begging conditions in asia and has
changed my life. just amazing. hard work but i made some amazing friends
and
learnt so much about what is happening here. it's just incredible to
observe
how they interact with each other, watch mothers choosing auntie's for
their
babies, see the devotion they have for each other (Jokia a blind
elephant -
eyes stabbed out by owner because she refused to trek the day her baby
died
- was constantly led around by the trunk of another female elephant,
Maeperm, who had become her guide). seeing the beautiful babies playing in
their mud pit but knowing they may well have to go through the Puujam - a
fate for every working elephant which involves taking them away from their
mother for the first time and subjecting them to 7 days of abuse and
tortu the objective is to break their spirit so they will be submissive
to man and will work for elephant trekking companies (trekking for 12
hours
a day with limited food) and the circus away from their family,chained up
at night and it goes on and on - i saw 2 documentaries on the puujaam and
it
made me so ashamed to be human. every elephant you see in asia that is
working will have gone through this. and worst of all, us tourists have NO
idea so the demand keeps on coming.

I am not one to knock different cultures or refuse to recognise
different needs and attitudes. After all, the French eat horses (and
snails!) and are considered civilised. She said later that this is a 400
year old tradition and difficult to break because there is a culture
that unless elephants are terrorised they will not be subservient to
man. /q

Thanks to all for replies. We have booked to go to the Elephant Nature
Park. Their website is good and you can pay by credit card. Our daughter
is very excited and is checking out the profiles of the elephant! We're
glad to be going to a sanctuary rather than a commercial park.

"Takin & Kanoknuan" wrote in
message ...


"Viviane" wrote in message
Has anyone been to this and done the mahout program? I'm particularly
interested in people's experiences with the overnight programs. We're
planning to do a 2 day / 1 night program in early July.

I became a little nervous when they asked by email for the deposit to go
into an account with a personal name, rather than a business name. I'm
not keen on doing an electronic transfer overseas anyway because of the
cost and would rather pay by credit card.

Any other elephant camps that people have enjoyed? I'd like a back up as
our 11 year old has her heart set on spending time with elephants while
we are in Thailand.


**Steve 'Kombat' Kramer used to run an illegal jungle safari tour business
in Chiang Mai, but the business was shut down by the Authorities and
Kombat was arrested and deported from Thailand. Unfortunately he has
stopped posting on Usenet. Kombat was an expert not only on elephants, but
on just about anything and everything, and would have been the one to ask.
)