The park has been around since 2003 and is a sanctuary for injured and mistreated elephants. Sangduen Chailert, or Lek as she is better known, began rescuing elephants in 1992 and despite extreme financial difficulties; her and her husband Adam (a Canadian) founded the park. Lek and a vet often travel to remote villages to rescue elephants and as a result, she is often away for days at a time. The park`s current 35 elephant herd is made of orphans, disabled, blind, and rescued elephants. Lek has also started a forest conservation program where sacred cloths blessed by Buddhist monks are tied to the trees. Locals are reluctant to cut these trees as they fear insulting jungle spirits.
The price to visit the park isn`t cheap, I believe it was about 80 dollars each but this includes lunch and transportation with most of the proceeds going back to the park. We couldn`t complain about the cost if it was benefiting the elephants. Transport was a lovely air conditioned van with a DVD player showing us a short documentary about Lek`s life work. The park is about an hour and a half north of Chiang Mai. As we turned off the highway and down a windy road, we passed several elephant camps set up for performances and/or rides. Elephants were fitted with devices to carry tourists and many were chained to sturdy wooden posts. It was hard to stomach to be honest.
Then we saw a huge field alongside the river with small groups of elephants roaming freely and you knew this was Lek`s camp. 
We unloaded from the van and followed our guide to a table where our bags and whatnot would live. Instructions regarding proper behavior around the elephants and the day`s itinerary were shared and off we went to see a couple elephants up close.
This is, I believe, Mae Mai, a friend of Medo (pictured below).
Medo`s story is a sad one. She was employed in a logging company at a very early age and at 12 years old; a heavy log broke her left rear ankle. Some think the loggers continued to work her making it worse; regardless she was sold to another company for breeding purposes. This company chained all four of her legs and the largest strongest bull was set to breed with her. Unfortunately the bull was in musth, a highly aggressive state, and he savagely attacked her, pinning her to the ground with his tusks. None of the workers wanted to approach him so they did nothing. Medo screamed in pain and could not stand up. Vets determined that her backbone was dislocated.
She has a horrible limp and her hip sticks out quite far. It is such a sad sight to behold. We approached slowly but all very eager to be close these giants. We were given some fruit which we either placed in their mouths or in the curl of their trunks.
While there, we saw a couple of other very large elephants receiving some treatment for their feet. A vet is fully employed at the park. Once done, we returned to the observation platform to watch the herds.
Next was feeding time. Visitors were given large baskets of watermelon and bananas, each with an elephant`s name on it.
Some elephants had different diets. The feeding platform was high enough that the elephants could easily reach the food but visitors were kept at a distance.
Two elephants who visited were Jokia and Mae Perm.
Jokia is a female elephant who worked with a logging family. She was well respected and loved by the family but a ban on logging forced them to sell Jokia. At some point, she ended up blind in both eyes – often workers poke the eyes of elephants to get them to perform certain tasks so no doubt, this is what happened to poor Jokia. Lek came across her on one of her village visits but the price to buy her was too high for Lek. Eventually with help from donations, Let purchased Jokia and brought her to the park where Mae Perm, another female elephant, befriended her, never leaving her side.
After feeding, watching, and interacting with the elephants, it was time to bathe them. I must confess, this didn`t quite live up to my expectations but Ian sure had a grand time. Elephants would come down to the river, stand in its shallow water and tourists would throw bucket after bucket of water onto their backs and sides. 
Later we watched Hope come down for his bath. Hope doesn`t interact with the tourists but his mahout stays close by his side. Every elephant has a mahout and none use aggressive forms of behavior control on the elephants.
Hope was orphaned and the family who was trying to look after him, simply could not afford the milk he needed. When Lek and her crew found him, he was covered in parasites, was skinny and frightened, banging his head against the side of the cage. The owner asked Lek to take him and she did.
At first, Hope wouldn`t take milk. He chased the volunteers, banged into them, and trumpeted his horn all night. The 4th night, he finally fell into a deep sleep. Lek stayed with him the entire night and when he awoke, she went running from his cage. At some point, she ended up with quite an injury from Hope but she would not give up. She remained with him until he finally accepted her. After 8 months, the family returned wanting Hope back but Lek found the money to buy him and here he remains at the park.
Lunch was amazing! Several Thai dishes and plenty for vegetarians or those of who do not eat beef or pork. There was quite a line up for the food as both visitors and volunteers eat together. Volunteers stay in basic fan cooled huts and work for free at the camp, paying for their food and accommodation themselves. I spoke with one of the volunteers and she admitted that they usually get the dirty jobs but everyone loved the experience and felt good about being there.
After lunch, we lined up for a kiss from a lovely elephant. 
Unfortunately, as Ian was taking my photo, a tourist walked in front of the camera. Too bad because I kept very still (most pull away) and got a great wet kiss that pretty well encompassed the entire side of my tiny face. It was great fun.
Then we went over to mingle with one of the babies, how sweet is that?!!!
Next was the elephant mud bath. It was quite hot standing without shade in that heat but it was worth it. The elephants were having a brilliant time splashing mud onto their backs or rolling in it as the babies were doing.
Later, we watched a documentary on the camp and some of the treatment of the elephants that Lek has witnessed. It was quite disturbing to see the torture these elephants go through. Trainers place the elephants in small wooden cages with slats in the sides to allow them to poke or beat the elephants with barbed poles. Their feet are restricted to allow very little mobility and the poor things are deprived of sleep for days. It is a very old technique passed down through generations so it will be very hard to eliminate. Since logging I banned and I had to wonder what these elephants are being trained for. The only thing I could think of was tourism: performances and rides. Everyone should watch this video as it would be a lot harder to watch a show or ride an elephant after seeing that.
That’s when we discovered Lek`s husband is a Canadian from Toronto – and was a firefighter (our friend Lee is a Toronto firefighter). What a small world! Adam came over to meet us and we chatted for quite awhile, keeping our van waiting! Oops.
Sadly it was time to take our leave. It was such a great experience and one I would highly recommend.
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