Elephant Camp

  Thailand

• Chiang Mai: 
Chiang Mai

Term: Throughout the year 
Durations of Program: 2-4 weeks, 5-8 weeks, 9-12 weeks and 3-6 months
Typical Duration of Program: 2-4 weeks
Dates: 1st and 3rd Monday of each month

Description: The day starts early at the Elephant Park. Seven o'clock is elephant bath time, followed by breakfast for the elephants. Once the elephants are fed and before day visitors make their arrival is when volunteers and other staff can sit down, have breakfast and enjoy a cup of northern Thai coffee with the backdrop of the rolling mountains of northern Thailand. Volunteers may help with direction and safety procedures with day tourists upon their arrival. After lunch all volunteers will work with the elephants and learn how to be an elephant trainer.

Later in the afternoon volunteers will be broken up into different tasks. The elephant park is big and has a very large staff. Its almost a community of its own. Everyone living in the surrounding village is either staff or a family member of a staff person at the park. Therefore volunteers will be asked to help out and work with the families and children of the parks workers. Some volunteers will teach an hour or two of English at the local hill tribe school. Other volunteers will stay at the park and teach English to the elephant trainers and other staff. Volunteers may be asked to help out with other areas of the elephant camp during their volunteer service. These additional things could be anything from taking care of one of the baby elephants to moving equipment. Any little bit helps in the development of the camp. Late in the afternoon/early evening, volunteers will be able to spend more time with the elephants and elephant trainers. This is when volunteers will really begin to bond with these lovely creatures and learn how to best care for them.

The park is roughly 40 miles (65 kilometers) from the city of Chiang Mai, is surrounded by mountains and is divided down the middle with a stream. Volunteers assist and work alongside elephant trainers and other park staff from 7:00 am to 5:00 pm (Monday to Friday). The park has been open for 20 years, has over 70 elephants and roughly 250 workers. Many of the workers are of minority, ethnic, hill tribe decent. The camp has many day visitors. Once a volunteer has spent a decent amount of time at the park, the volunteer may be asked to help present the different safety precautions the park has for its day visitors.

Before working directly with the elephants, all volunteers will go through a three day safety course at the park. During those three days, volunteers may take part in some of the teaching and other roles that they may be involved with later. Elephants are gentle creatures, but are incredibly big and strong. Safety is of the utmost importance, to insure nobody gets hurt during their volunteer service

Highlights: Chiang Mai is a pleasant city, encircled by mountains and lush rice fields. Chiang Mai is Thailand's second largest city with a population of roughly 700,000. The city is considered the cultural and physical capital of (what used to be) the northern Thai (Lanna) kingdom. Chiang Mai is the home of an international airport, restaurants of almost every cuisine, incredible shopping and world class hospitals.

During or after one's volunteer service, Friends For Asia recommends for volunteers to take part in some of the many different local attractions and/or courses. Every Sunday Chiang Mai closes off one of the main roads in the old city to put on a walking street market. Vendors and artisans from the area set up their small booths to sell their handicrafts, art and mouthwatering finger foods.

Chiang Mai offers Thai cooking courses starting around 35 USD, Thai massage courses starting around USD 45, along with jungle treks and regular Muay Thai (Thai boxing) matches. Upon your arrival into Chiang Mai, Friends For Asia will be more than happy to help you sign up for one of these exciting opportunities to learn more about this beautiful culture.

Qualifications: Volunteers do not need any specific qualifications, but should be able-bodied, enjoy working outside and with animals. As in any cross-cultural context, those involved are asked to be flexible and be open to other customs and traditions.   

Cost in US$: 995

Experience Required: no

Typical Volunteer: An individual who loves to travel, wants to learn more about Thailand and assist Asia in it's development.

Age Range: 18 and up

This Program is open to Worldwide Participants. This Program is also open to Families, Couples and Individuals

Participants Travel to Thailand in Groups

Typically Participants Work in Groups of 2 or 3

Application Process Involves:

• Online Application plus Application Assessment

Post-Program Services Include:

• Exit Debriefing Abroad

Friends For Asia's Mission Statement: The mission of Friends For Asia is twofold. We offer an opportunity for people to contribute, in a meaningful way, to the improvement of standards of living by building capacity in our host agencies and we provide committed volunteers to work on projects developed with host agencies that benefit the people of Thailand.

Year Founded: 2008